The 27th Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 27 April to 14 May 1972. It consisted of 17 stages covering a total of 3,079.3 km (1,913.4 mi), and was won by José Manuel Fuente of the Kas-Kaskol cycling team. Fuente also won the mountains classification while Domingo Perurena won the points classification.
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 27 April – 14 May | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,079.3 km (1,913 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 82h 34′ 14″ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 27 April | Fuengirola – Fuengirola | 6 km (4 mi) |  |
Individual time trial |  René Pijnen (NED) |
| 1 | 28 April | Fuengirola – Cabra | 167 km (104 mi) |  Miguel María Lasa (ESP) |
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| 2 | 29 April | Cabra – Granada | 206 km (128 mi) | Gerard Vianen (NED) |
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| 3 | 30 April | Granada – Almería | 181 km (112 mi) | Domingo Perurena (ESP) |
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| 4 | 1 May | Almería – Dehesa de Campoamor | 251 km (156 mi) | Ger Harings (NED) |
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| 5 | 2 May | Dehesa de Campoamor – Gandia | 183 km (114 mi) |  Pieter Nassen (BEL) |
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| 6a | 3 May | Gandia – El Saler | 120 km (75 mi) | Roger Kindt (BEL) |
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| 6b | 3 May | El Saler – El Saler | 6.5 km (4 mi) |  |
Team time trial | Kas–Kaskol |
| 7 | 4 May | Valencia – Vinaròs | 181 km (112 mi) | Jos van der Vleuten (NED) |
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| 8 | 5 May | Vinaròs – Tarragona | 189 km (117 mi) | Cees Koeken (NED) |
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| 9a | 6 May | Tarragona – Barcelona | 118 km (73 mi) | Ger Harings (NED) |
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| 9b | 6 May | Barcelona – Barcelona | 10 km (6 mi) | |
Individual time trial | Jesús Manzaneque (ESP) |
| 10 | 7 May | Barcelona – Banyoles | 192 km (119 mi) | Domingo Perurena (ESP) |
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| 11 | 8 May | Manresa – Zaragoza | 259 km (161 mi) | Luis Balague (ESP) |
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| 12 | 9 May | Zaragoza – Formigal | 169 km (105 mi) | José Manuel Fuente (ESP) |
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| 13 | 10 May | Sangüesa – Arrate | 201 km (125 mi) | Agustín Tamames (ESP) |
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| 14 | 11 May | Eibar – Bilbao | 145 km (90 mi) |  Miguel María Lasa (ESP) |
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| 15 | 12 May | Bilbao – Torrelavega | 148 km (92 mi) | Gerard Vianen (NED) |
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| 16 | 13 May | Torrelavega – Vitoria | 219 km (136 mi) | Agustín Tamames (ESP) |
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| 17a | 14 May | Vitoria – San Sebastián | 138 km (86 mi) | Jesús Aranzabal (ESP) |
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| 17b | 14 May | San Sebastián – San Sebastián | 20 km (12 mi) | |
Individual time trial | José Antonio González (ESP) |
| Total | 3,079.3 km (1,913 mi) | |||||
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | José Manuel Fuente |
Kas-Kaskol | 82h 34′ 14″ |
| 2 | Miguel María Lasa |
Kas-Kaskol | + 6′ 34″ |
| 3 | Agustin Tamames |
Werner | + 7′ 00″ |
| 4 | Gonzalo Aja Barguin |
Karpy | + 8′ 07″ |
| 5 | José Antonio Gonzalez |
Kas-Kaskol | + 8′ 08s |
| 6 | Domingo Perurena Tellechea |
Kas-Kaskol | + 8′ 23″ |
| 7 | Jesús Manzaneque |
Kas-Kaskol | + 8′ 27″ |
| 8 | José Pesarrodona |
Kas-Kaskol | + 8′ 38″ |
| 9 |  Désiré Letort |
Bic | + 8′ 42″ |
| 10 | Bernard Labourdette |
Bic | + 8′ 54″ |
| 11 | Andres Oliva Sanchez |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes | |
| 12 | Vicente López Carril |
Kas-Kaskol | |
| 13 | Eduardo Castelló |
Karpy | |
| 14 | Ventura Diaz Arrey |
Werner | |
| 15 | José Manuel Blanco |
Werner | |
| 16 | José Luis Uribezubia |
Werner | |
| 17 | Juan Zurano Jerez |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes | |
| 18 | Francisco Galdos Gauna |
Kas-Kaskol | |
| 19 | Santiago Lazcano Labaca |
Kas-Kaskol | |
| 20 | Eufronio Enrique Santos |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes | |
| 21 | Juan-Manuel Valls |
Karpy | |
| 22 | José-Luis Abilleira |
La Casera-Pena Bahamontes | |
| 23 |  Leif Mortensen |
Bic | |
| 24 |  Silvano Schiavon |
GBC-Sony | |
| 25 | Antonio Menendez |
Karpy |
