Vuelta a Espana 1996

The 51st Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 7 September to 29 September 1996. It consisted of 22 stages covering a total of 3,898 km (2,422 mi), and was won by Alex Zülle of the ONCE cycling team. This was the only time in cycling history that riders from Switzerland swept the Podium in a Grand Tour.

Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain started his home tour for the first time since finishing second in 1991, having just recently been dislodged at the Tour by Bjarne Riis. He was initially reluctant to start, but convinced by his team to do so after a strong performance during the time trial at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. However, Indurain would eventually abandon the race, which would prove to be the last of his career, on stage 13 while lying in third place overall, having been dropped by the rest of the race favourites on the first-category climb of the Fito pass.

1996 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	7–29 September
Stages	22
Distance	3,898 km (2,422 mi)
Winning time	97h 31′ 46″
Results
Winner  Alex Zülle (SUI) (ONCE) Second  Laurent Dufaux (SUI) (Festina–Lotus) Third  Tony Rominger (SUI) (Mapei–GB) Points  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) (ONCE) Mountains  Tony Rominger (SUI) (Mapei–GB) Sprints  Jürgen Werner (GER) (Team Telekom) Team Team Polti
← 1995 1997 →

Route

List of stages

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	7 September	Valencia – Valencia	162 km (101 mi)			Biagio Conte (ITA)
2	8 September	Valencia – Cuenca	210 km (130 mi)			Nicola Minali (ITA)
3	9 September	Cuenca – Albacete	167.2 km (104 mi)			Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
4	10 September	Albacete – Murcia	166.5 km (103 mi)			Tom Steels (BEL)
5	11 September	Murcia – Almería	208.4 km (129 mi)			Jeroen Blijlevens (NED)
6	12 September	Almería – Málaga	196.5 km (122 mi)			Fabio Baldato (ITA)
7	13 September	Málaga – Marbella	171.1 km (106 mi)			Fabio Baldato (ITA)
8	14 September	Marbella – Jerez de la Frontera	220.7 km (137 mi)			Nicola Minali (ITA)
9	15 September	Jerez de la Frontera – Córdoba	203.5 km (126 mi)			Nicola Minali (ITA)
	16 September				Rest day
10	17 September	El Tiemblo – Ávila	46.5 km (29 mi)		Individual time trial	Tony Rominger (SUI)
11	18 September	Ávila – Salamanca	188 km (117 mi)			Marco Antonio Di Renzo (ITA)
12	19 September	Benavente – Alto del Naranco	188 km (117 mi)			Daniele Nardello (ITA)
13	20 September	Oviedo – Lakes of Covadonga	159 km (99 mi)			Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
14	21 September	Cangas de Onís – Cabarceno Natural Park	202.6 km (126 mi)			Biagio Conte (ITA)
15	22 September	Cabárceno [es] – Alto Cruz de la Demanda (Ezcaray)	220 km (137 mi)			Alex Zülle (SUI)
16	23 September	Logroño – Sabiñánigo	220.9 km (137 mi)			Nicola Minali (ITA)
17	24 September	Sabiñánigo – Cerler	165.7 km (103 mi)			Oliverio Rincón (COL)
18	25 September	Benasque – Zaragoza	219.5 km (136 mi)			Dimitri Konyshev (RUS)
19	26 September	Getafe – Ávila	217.1 km (135 mi)			Laurent Dufaux (SUI)
20	27 September	Ávila – Palazuelos de Eresma (Destilerías DYC)	209.5 km (130 mi)			Gianni Bugno (ITA)
21	28 September	Segovia – Palazuelos de Eresma (Destilerías DYC)	43 km (27 mi)		Individual time trial	Tony Rominger (SUI)
22	29 September	Madrid – Madrid	157.6 km (98 mi)			Tom Steels (BEL)
	Total		3,898 km (2,422 mi)

General classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Alex Zülle	ONCE	97h 31′ 46s
2	Laurent Dufaux	Festina	+ 6′ 23s
3	Tony Rominger	Mapei–GB	+ 8′ 29s
4	Roberto Pistore	MG Maglificio–Technogym	+ 10′ 13s
5	Stefano Faustini	AKI – Gipièmme	+ 11′ 21s
6	Georg Totschnig	Team Polti	+ 11′ 33s
7	Davide Rebellin	Team Polti	+ 13′ 16s
8	Andrea Peron	Motorola	+ 14′ 46s
9	Bobby Julich	Motorola	+ 15′ 10s
10	Fernando Escartín	Kelme-Artiach	+ 18′ 35s
11	Marcos Serrano	Kelme-Artiach	+ 19′ 19s
12	José María Jiménez	Banesto	+ 20′ 19s
13	Mauro Gianetti	Team Polti	+ 21′ 15s
14	Daniel Clavero	MX Onda	+ 21′ 49s
15	Daniele Nardello	Mapei–GB	+ 22′ 37s
16	Vladislav Bobrik	Gewiss Playbus	+ 26′ 00s
17	Axel Merckx	Motorola	+ 27′ 34s
18	Francisco Javier Mauleón	Mapei–GB	+ 27′ 38s
19	Laurent Jalabert	ONCE	+ 27′ 44s
20	Peter Meinert Nielsen	Team Telekom	+ 29′ 56s
21	Pascal Chanteur	Casino
22	Fabian Jeker	Festina-Lotus
23	Kai Hundertmarck	Team Telekom
24	Ángel Casero	Banesto
25	Massimo Apollonio	Scrigno–Blue Storm