The 2006 Vuelta a España was held from 26 August to 17 September 2006, and was the 61st edition of the race. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 3,192 km (1,983 mi), and was won by Alexander Vinokourov of the Astana cycling team. The points classification was won by Thor Hushovd of Crédit Agricole, and the mountains classification by Egoi Martínez of Discovery Channel.
List of stages
Stage |
Date |
Course |
Distance |
Type |
Winner |
1 |
26 Aug |
Málaga – Málaga |
7.2 km |
Team time trial |
Team CSC |
2 |
27 Aug |
Málaga – Córdoba |
167 km |
|
Paolo Bettini |
3 |
28 Aug |
Córdoba – Almendralejo |
220 km |
|
Francisco Ventoso |
4 |
29 Aug |
Almendralejo – Cáceres |
142 km |
|
Erik Zabel |
5 |
30 Aug |
Plasencia – Estación de Esquí La Covatilla (Béjar) |
178 km |
Mountain stage* |
Danilo Di Luca |
6 |
31 Aug |
Zamora – León |
155 km |
|
Thor Hushovd |
7 |
1 Sept |
León – Alto de El Morredero (Ponferrada) |
148 km |
Mountain stage* |
Alejandro Valverde |
8 |
2 Sept |
Ponferrada – Lugo |
173 km |
|
Alexander Vinokourov |
9 |
3 Sept |
A Fonsagrada – Alto de La Cobertoria |
206 km |
Mountain stage* |
Alexander Vinokourov |
|
4 Sept |
Rest Day |
|
|
10 |
5 Sept |
Avilés – Museo de Altamira (Santillana del Mar) |
190 km |
|
Sérgio Paulinho |
11 |
6 Sept |
Torrelavega (Velódromo Oscar Freire) – Burgos |
165 km |
Mountain stage |
Egoi Martínez |
12 |
7 Sept |
Aranda de Duero – Guadalajara |
162 km |
|
Luca Paolini |
13 |
8 Sept |
Guadalajara – Cuenca |
170 km |
|
Samuel Sánchez |
14 |
9 Sept |
Cuenca – Cuenca |
33 km |
Individual time trial |
David Millar |
15 |
10 Sept |
Motilla del Palancar – Factoría Ford (Almussafes) |
175 km |
|
Robert Förster |
|
11 Sept |
Rest Day |
|
|
16 |
12 Sept |
Almería – Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto |
145 km |
Mountain stage* |
Igor Antón |
17 |
13 Sept |
Adra – Granada |
167 km |
Mountain stage |
Thomas Danielson |
18 |
14 Sept |
Granada – Sierra de la Pandera |
153 km |
Mountain stage* |
Andrey Kashechkin |
19 |
15 Sept |
Jaén – Ciudad Real |
195 km |
|
José Luis Arrieta |
20 |
16 Sept |
Rivas Futura – Rivas Vaciamadrid |
28 km |
Individual time trial |
Alexander Vinokourov |
21 |
17 Sept |
Madrid – Madrid |
150 km |
|
Erik Zabel |
Jersey progress
Stage
(Winner) |
General classification |
Points Classification |
Mountains Classification |
Combination Classification |
Team Classification |
0Stage 1 (TTT)
(Team CSC) |
Carlos Sastre |
Carlos Sastre |
no award |
no award |
Team CSC |
0Stage 2
(Paolo Bettini) |
Thor Hushovd |
Paolo Bettini |
Mario De Sárraga |
Mario De Sárraga |
0Stage 3
(Francisco Ventoso) |
Thor Hushovd |
David de la Fuente |
0Stage 4
(Erik Zabel) |
0Stage 5
(Danilo Di Luca) |
Danilo Di Luca |
Danilo Di Luca |
Danilo Di Luca |
Discovery Channel |
0Stage 6
(Thor Hushovd) |
0Stage 7
(Alejandro Valverde) |
Janez Brajkovič |
Janez Brajkovič |
Janez Brajkovič |
0Stage 8
(Alexander Vinokourov) |
0Stage 9
(Alexander Vinokourov) |
Alejandro Valverde |
Pietro Caucchioli |
Alejandro Valverde |
0Stage 10
(Sérgio Paulinho) |
0Stage 11
(Egoi Martínez) |
0Stage 12
(Luca Paolini) |
0Stage 13
(Samuel Sánchez) |
0Stage 14 (ITT)
(David Millar) |
0Stage 15
(Robert Förster) |
0Stage 16
(Igor Antón) |
0Stage 17
(Tom Danielson) |
Alexander Vinokourov |
Egoi Martínez |
0Stage 18
(Andrei Kashechkin) |
0Stage 19
(José Luis Arrieta) |
Alexander Vinokourov |
0Stage 20 (ITT)
(Alexander Vinokourov) |
0Stage 21
(Erik Zabel) |
Final |
Alexander Vinokourov |
Thor Hushovd |
Egoi Martínez |
Alexander Vinokourov |
Discovery Channel |
General classification (final)
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Time |
1 |
Alexander Vinokourov |
Astana |
81h 23′ 07″ |
2 |
Alejandro Valverde |
Caisse d’Epargne–Illes Balears |
1′ 12″ |
3 |
Andrey Kashechkin |
Astana |
3′ 12″ |
4 |
Carlos Sastre |
Team CSC |
3′ 35″ |
5 |
José Ángel Gómez Marchante |
Saunier Duval–Prodir |
6′ 51″ |
6 |
Tom Danielson |
Discovery Channel |
8′ 09″ |
7 |
Samuel Sánchez |
Euskaltel–Euskadi |
8′ 26″ |
8 |
Manuel Beltrán |
Discovery Channel |
10′ 36″ |
9 |
Vladimir Karpets |
Caisse d’Epargne–Illes Balears |
10′ 47″ |
10 |
Luis Pérez Rodríguez |
Cofidis |
11′ 32″ |
Points classification
In 2006, the leader of the points classification is awarded a blue with yellow-fish-covered jersey, which is sponsored by Spain’s fishing and marine industry known as FROM (or El Fondo de Regulación y Organización del Mercado de Productos de la Pesca y Cultivos Marinos).
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Thor Hushovd |
Crédit Agricole |
199 |
2 |
Alexander Vinokourov |
Astana |
163 |
3 |
Alejandro Valverde |
Caisse d’Epargne–Illes Balears |
147 |
4 |
Samuel Sánchez |
Euskaltel–Euskadi |
107 |
5 |
Erik Zabel |
Team Milram |
104 |
6 |
Stuart O’Grady |
Team CSC |
104 |
7 |
Francisco Ventoso |
Saunier Duval–Prodir |
99 |
8 |
Andrey Kashechkin |
Astana |
95 |
9 |
Carlos Sastre |
Team CSC |
93 |
10 |
José Ángel Gómez Marchante |
Saunier Duval–Prodir |
68 |
Mountains classification
In 2006, the leader of the climbers classification (or King of the Mountains ) wears the orange jersey sponsored by Ford. In recent years, the KoM wore a red jersey.
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Egoi Martínez |
Discovery Channel |
129 |
2 |
Pietro Caucchioli |
Crédit Agricole |
117 |
3 |
Alejandro Valverde |
Caisse d’Epargne–Illes Balears |
98 |
4 |
Andrey Kashechkin |
Astana |
84 |
5 |
Alexander Vinokourov |
Astana |
82 |
6 |
José Miguel Elías |
Relax-Gam |
70 |
7 |
Igor Antón |
Euskaltel–Euskadi |
67 |
8 |
Carlos Sastre |
Team CSC |
63 |
9 |
José Ángel Gómez Marchante |
Saunier Duval–Prodir |
60 |
10 |
David Arroyo |
Caisse d’Epargne–Illes Balears |
58 |
Combination classification
In 2006, the leader of the combinations classification wears the white jersey. In 2005, the rider with the lowest cumulative rank of all classifications wore a gold-green jersey.
Rank |
Rider |
Team |
Points |
1 |
Alexander Vinokourov |
Astana |
8 |
2 |
Alejandro Valverde |
Caisse d’Epargne–Illes Balears |
8 |
3 |
Andrey Kashechkin |
Astana |
15 |
4 |
Carlos Sastre |
Team CSC |
21 |
5 |
José Ángel Gómez Marchante |
Saunier Duval–Prodir |
24 |
6 |
Samuel Sánchez |
Euskaltel–Euskadi |
25 |
7 |
Tom Danielson |
Discovery Channel |
28 |
8 |
Egoi Martínez |
Discovery Channel |
31 |
9 |
Igor Antón |
Euskaltel–Euskadi |
39 |
10 |
Manuel Beltrán |
Discovery Channel |
43 |
Teams classification
Rank |
Team |
Time |
1 |
Discovery Channel |
201h 59′ 16″ |
2 |
Astana |
15′ 25″ |
3 |
Caisse d’Epargne–Illes Balears |
25′ 33″ |
4 |
Euskaltel–Euskadi |
32′ 13″ |
5 |
Team CSC |
52′ 56″ |
6 |
Saunier Duval–Prodir |
1h 40′ 02″ |
7 |
Lampre–Fondital |
1h 43′ 20″ |
8 |
AG2R Prévoyance |
2h 02′ 55″ |
9 |
Relax-GAM |
2h 16′ 26″ |
10 |
Cofidis |
2h 20′ 33″ |