The 35th Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 22 April to 11 May 1980. It consisted of 20 stages covering a total of 3,225 km (2,004 mi), and was won by Faustino Rupérez of the Zor cycling team.
Roberto Visentini won the prologue of the race and kept the leader’s jersey for the first five days of the race. Sean Kelly finished second in the prologue and won the next two stages but did not get to wear the leader’s jersey. On the first mountain stage, Faustino Rupérez came solo to the finish and took the leader’s jersey which he kept until the end of the race. Pedro Torres put in an attack on the penultimate stage on the climb to Puerto de la Morcuera. However Rupérez together with Miguel Mari Lasa bridged up to Torres half way to Alto de Cotos and the leader’s jersey was safe. Rupérez won the race ahead of Torres and Claude Criquielion. Criquielion’s Splendor teammate Kelly won five stages of the race, the points jersey and finished fourth overall. Marino Lejarreta finished the race fifth overall. Juan Fernández won the Mountains competition.
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 22 April – 11 May | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 19 stages + Prologue, including 1 split stages | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,225 km (2,004 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 88h 23′ 21″ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 22 April | La Manga – La Manga | 10 km (6 mi) |  |
Individual time trial |  Roberto Visentini (ITA) |
| 1 | 23 April | La Manga – Benidorm | 155 km (96 mi) |  Sean Kelly (IRL) |
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| 2 | 24 April | Benidorm – Cullera | 170 km (106 mi) | Sean Kelly (IRL) |
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| 3 | 25 April | Cullera – Vinaròs | 207 km (129 mi) | Giuseppe Martinelli (ITA) |
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| 4 | 26 April | Vinaròs – Sant Quirze del Vallès | 214 km (133 mi) |  Klaus-Peter Thaler (FRG) |
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| 5 | 27 April | Sant Quirze del Vallès – La Seu d’Urgell | 200 km (124 mi) |  Faustino Rupérez (ESP) |
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| 6 | 28 April | La Seu d’Urgell – Viella | 131 km (81 mi) | Enrique Martínez Heredia (ESP) |
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| 7 | 29 April | Viella – Jaca | 216 km (134 mi) | Faustino Rupérez (ESP) |
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| 8 | 30 April | Monastery of Leyre – Logroño | 160 km (99 mi) | Eulalio García (ESP) |
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| 9 | 1 May | Logroño – Burgos | 138 km (86 mi) |  Jos Lammertink (NED) |
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| 10 | 2 May | Burgos – Santander | 178 km (111 mi) |  Paul Jesson (NZL) |
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| 11 | 3 May | Santander – Gijón | 219 km (136 mi) | Jesús López Carril (ESP) |
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| 12 | 4 May | Santiago de Compostela – Pontevedra | 133 km (83 mi) |  Etienne De Wilde (BEL) |
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| 13 | 5 May | Pontevedra – Vigo | 195 km (121 mi) | Rolf Haller (FRG) |
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| 14 | 6 May | Vigo – Ourense | 156 km (97 mi) | Sean Kelly (IRL) |
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| 15 | 7 May | Ourense – Ponferrada | 164 km (102 mi) | Francisco Elorriaga (ESP) |
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| 16a | 8 May | Ponferrada – León | 131 km (81 mi) |  Dominique Arnaud (FRA) |
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| 16b | 8 May | León – León | 22.8 km (14 mi) | |
Individual time trial | Roberto Visentini (ITA) |
| 17 | 9 May | León – Valladolid | 138 km (86 mi) | Sean Kelly (IRL) |
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| 18 | 10 May | Valladolid – Los Ángeles de San Rafael | 197 km (122 mi) | Manuel Esparza (ESP) |
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| 19 | 11 May | Madrid – Madrid | 84 km (52 mi) | Sean Kelly (IRL) |
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| Total | 3,225 km (2,004 mi) | |||||
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faustino Rupérez |
Zor-Vereco | 88h 23′ 21″ |
| 2 | Pedro Torres |
Kelme-Gios | + 2′ 15″ |
| 3 | Claude Criquielion |
Splendor-Admiral | + 3′ 00″ |
| 4 | Sean Kelly |
Splendor-Admiral | + 3′ 31″ |
| 5 | Marino Lejarreta |
Teka | + 4′ 32″ |
| 6 | Guido Van Calster |
Splendor-Admiral | + 4′ 44″ |
| 7 | Johan De Muynck |
Splendor-Admiral | + 4′ 58″ |
| 8 | Francisco Galdós |
Kelme-Gios | + 5′ 00″ |
| 9 | Miguel María Lasa |
Zor-Vereco | + 5′ 25″ |
| 10 | Vicente Belda |
Kelme-Gios | + 6′ 41″ |
| 11 | Manuel Esparza Sanz |
Teka | |
| 12 | Faustino Fernandez |
Henninger-Aquila Rossa | |
| 13 | Jos Borguet |
Splendor-Admiral | |
| 14 | Bernard Thévenet |
Teka | |
| 15 | Roberto Visentini |
San Giacomo-Benotto | |
| 16 | Juan Fernández Martín |
Zor-Vereco | |
| 17 | Ángel Arroyo |
Zor-Vereco | |
| 18 | Pedro Vilardebo |
Flavia-Gios | |
| 19 | Francisco Codony |
Manzaneque-Alan | |
| 20 | Antonio Gonzalez |
Colchon C.R. | |
| 21 | José-Luis Laguia |
Reynolds-Benotto | |
| 22 | José Enrique Cima |
Henninger-Aquila Rossa | |
| 23 | Ricardo Zuniga Xarrasco |
Manzaneque-Alan | |
| 24 | Juan Pujol Pages |
Kelme-Gios | |
| 25 | Peter Zijerveld |
HB Alarmsystemen |
