The 38th Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 19 April to 8 May 1983. It consisted of 19 stages covering a total of 3,398 km (2,111 mi), and was won by Bernard Hinault of the Renault-Elf-Gitane cycling team. The foreign favourites for the race included Bernard Hinault who had won the Vuelta once before in 1978 and World Champion Giuseppe Saronni. The Spanish favourites for the race included the de facto defending champion Marino Lejarreta, Julián Gorospe and Alberto Fernández.
Hinault took the leadership of the race after the fifth stage only to lose it the following day to Lejarreta. Lejarreta then won the stage 8 38 km (24 mi) mountain time trial and increased his lead over Hinault. On the stage from Zaragoza to Soria that was won by Saronni, Lejarreta had a fall and lost the jersey to Gorospe. Fernández took the leadership the following day. Lejarreta came back and won the stage 13 to Lagos de Covadonga. However Fernández kept the leader’s jersey. On the following stage Álvaro Pino took the jersey and wore it for two days. Hinault won the individual time trial but did not win by enough time to take the jersey which passed again to Gorospe. Two days later Hinault’s pace on the climb to Puerto de Serranillos was too hot for his opponents and he won the stage in Ávila and took back the leader’s jersey to win his second Vuelta and his eighth grand tour with Lejarreta second and Fernández in third. The great battle waged between Hinault and the Spanish riders has led to the 1983 race being described as its most spectacular edition. In addition to this the start list for the 1983 Renault team at the Vuelta included Hinault, Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon, the only time they rode on the same team in a Grand Tour.
This victory proved costly for Hinault however, as due to a recurrent tendinitis issue that had developed in his knee, which he greatly aggravated on the climb to Puerto de Serranillos, Hinault was unable to ride in that year’s Tour, where Fignon took over Team Renault.
Route map |
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| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 19 April – 8 May | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 19 + Prologue, including 1 split stage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,398 km (2,111 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 94h 28′ 26″ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 19 April | Almussafes – Almussafes | 6.8 km (4 mi) |  |
Individual time trial |  Dominique Gaigne (FRA) |
| 1 | 20 April | Almussafes – Cuenca | 235 km (146 mi) |  Juan Fernández (ESP) |
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| 2 | 21 April | Cuenca – Teruel | 152 km (94 mi) |  Eric Vanderaerden (BEL) |
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| 3 | 22 April | Teruel – Sant Carles de la Ràpita | 241 km (150 mi) |  Giuseppe Petito (ITA) |
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| 4 | 23 April | Sant Carles de la Ràpita – Sant Quirze del Vallès | 192 km (119 mi) | Laurent Fignon (FRA) |
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| 5 | 24 April | Sant Quirze del Vallès – Castellar de n’Hug | 195 km (121 mi) | Alberto Fernández (ESP) |
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| 6 | 25 April | La Pobla de Lillet – Viella | 235 km (146 mi) | Marino Lejarreta (ESP) |
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| 7 | 26 April | Les – Sabiñánigo | 137 km (85 mi) | Jesús Suárez Cueva (ESP) |
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| 8 | 27 April | Sabiñánigo – Balneario de Panticosa | 38 km (24 mi) | |
Individual time trial | Marino Lejarreta (ESP) |
| 9 | 28 April | Panticosa – Alfajarín | 183 km (114 mi) | Giuseppe Saronni (ITA) |
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| 10 | 29 April | Zaragoza – Soria | 174 km (108 mi) | Giuseppe Saronni (ITA) |
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| 11 | 30 April | Soria – Logroño | 185 km (115 mi) | Eric Vanderaerden (BEL) |
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| 12 | 1 May | Logroño – Burgos | 147 km (91 mi) | Noël Dejonckheere (BEL) |
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| 13 | 2 May | Aguilar de Campoo – Lakes of Covadonga | 188 km (117 mi) | Marino Lejarreta (ESP) |
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| 14 | 3 May | Cangas de Onís – León | 195 km (121 mi) | Carlos Hernández (ESP) |
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| 15a | 4 May | León – Valladolid | 134 km (83 mi) | Pascal Poisson (FRA) |
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| 15b | 4 May | Valladolid – Valladolid | 22 km (14 mi) | |
Individual time trial | Bernard Hinault (FRA) |
| 16 | 5 May | Valladolid – Salamanca | 162 km (101 mi) | José Luis Laguía (ESP) |
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| 17 | 6 May | Salamanca – Ávila | 216 km (134 mi) | Bernard Hinault (FRA) |
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| 18 | 7 May | Ávila – Palazuelos de Eresma (Destilerías DYC) | 204 km (127 mi) | Jesús Hernández Úbeda (ESP) |
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| 19 | 8 May | Palazuelos de Eresma (Destilerías DYC) – Madrid | 135 km (84 mi) |  Michael Wilson (AUS) |
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| Total | 3,398 km (2,111 mi) | |||||
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard Hinault |
Renault-Elf-Gitane | 94h 28′ 26″ |
| 2 | Marino Lejarreta |
Alfa Lum-Olmo | + 1′ 12″ |
| 3 | Alberto Fernández |
Zor-Gemeaz | + 3′ 58″ |
| 4 | Alvaro Pino |
Zor-Gemeaz | + 5′ 09″ |
| 5 |  Hennie Kuiper |
Jacky Aernoudt-Rossin | + 10′ 26″ |
| 6 | Eduardo Chozas Olmo |
Zor-Gemeaz | + 11′ 11″ |
| 7 | Laurent Fignon |
Renault-Elf-Gitane | + 11′ 27″ |
| 8 | Pedro Munoz Rodriguez |
Zor-Gemeaz | + 12′ 25″ |
| 9 | Vicente Belda |
Kelme | + 13′ 28″ |
| 10 | Faustino Rupérez |
Zor-Gemeaz | + 13′ 36″ |
| 11 | Guillermo De La Pena |
Hueso-Motta | |
| 12 | Julián Gorospe |
Reynolds-Galli | |
| 13 | Alain Vigneron |
Renault-Elf-Gitane | |
| 14 | Claudio Bortolotto |
Del Tongo-Colnago | |
| 15 | Pedro Delgado |
Reynolds-Galli | |
| 16 | José Antonio Cabrero |
Hueso-Motta | |
| 17 | Faustino Cueli Arce |
Teka | |
| 18 | Leonardo Natale |
Del Tongo-Colnago | |
| 19 |  Lucien Didier |
Renault-Elf-Gitane | |
| 20 | Angel De Las Heras |
Kelme | |
| 21 | Jesus Rodriguez Magro |
Zor-Gemeaz | |
| 22 | Jesus Hernandez Ubeda |
Reynolds-Galli | |
| 23 | Roberto Ceruti |
Del Tongo-Colnago | |
| 24 | José Luis Laguía |
Reynolds-Galli | |
| 25 | Martial Gayant |
Renault-Elf-Gitane |
