1979 Vuelta a España

The 34th Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 24 April to 13 May 1979. It consisted of 19 stages covering a total of 3,373 km (2,096 mi), and was won by Joop Zoetemelk of the Miko–Mercier cycling team. Zoetemelk won two of the three ITT's and Fons De Wolf won the other. De Wolf also won the points classification as well as five stages, but Zoetemelk won the race with a comfortable lead ahead of Spanish climbing specialist Francisco Galdós and Michel Pollentier. Felipe Yáñez won the mountains classification.^[1]

1979 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	24 April – 13 May
Stages	19 stages + Prologue, including 3 split stages
Distance	3,373 km (2,096 mi)
Winning time	94h 57' 03"
Results
Winner  Joop Zoetemelk (NED) (Miko–Mercier)   Second  Francisco Galdós (ESP) (Kas)   Third  Michel Pollentier (BEL) (Splendor) Points  Alfons De Wolf (BEL) (Boule d'Or–Lano) Mountains  Felipe Yáñez (ESP) (Novostil–Helios)   Sprints  Roger De Cnijf (BEL) (Boule d'Or–Lano)   Team Kas
← 1978 1980 →

Teams and riders

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1979 Vuelta a España

Route

List of stages^[2][3]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	24 April	Jerez de la Frontera – Jerez de la Frontera	6.3 km (4 mi)		Individual time trial	Joop Zoetemelk (NED)
1	25 April	Jerez de la Frontera – Seville	156 km (97 mi)			Sean Kelly (IRL)
2	26 April	Seville – Córdoba	188 km (117 mi)			Alfons De Wolf (BEL)
3	27 April	Córdoba – Sierra Nevada	190 km (118 mi)			Felipe Yáñez (ESP)
4	28 April	Granada – Puerto Lumbreras	222 km (138 mi)			Roger De Cnijf (BEL)
5	29 April	Puerto Lumbreras – Murcia	139 km (86 mi)			Juan Argudo [es] (ESP)
6	30 April	Murcia – Alcoy	171 km (106 mi)			Christian Levavasseur (FRA)
7	1 May	Alcoy – Sedaví	173 km (107 mi)			Alfons De Wolf (BEL)
8a	2 May	Sedaví – Benicàssim	145 km (90 mi)			Sean Kelly (IRL)
8b	2 May	Benicàssim – Benicàssim	11.3 km (7 mi)		Individual time trial	Joop Zoetemelk (NED)
9	3 May	Benicàssim – Reus	193 km (120 mi)			Alfons De Wolf (BEL)
10	4 May	Reus – Zaragoza	230 km (143 mi)			Noël Dejonckheere (BEL)
11	5 May	Zaragoza – Pamplona	183 km (114 mi)			Noël Dejonckheere (BEL)
12	6 May	Pamplona – Logroño	149 km (93 mi)			Frans Van Vlierberghe (BEL)
13	7 May	Haro – Peña Cabarga [es]	180 km (112 mi)			Ángel López del Álamo [fr] (ESP)
14	8 May	Torrelavega – Gijón	178 km (111 mi)			Bernardo Alfonsel (ESP)
15	9 May	Gijón – León	156 km (97 mi)			Lucien Van Impe (BEL)
16a	10 May	León – Valladolid	134 km (83 mi)			Adri van Houwelingen (NED)
16b	10 May	Valladolid – Valladolid	22 km (14 mi)		Individual time trial	Alfons De Wolf (BEL)
17	11 May	Valladolid – Ávila	204 km (127 mi)			Francisco Albelda (ESP)
18a	12 May	Ávila – Colmenar Viejo	155 km (96 mi)			Miguel María Lasa (ESP)
18b	12 May	Colmenar Viejo – Azuqueca de Henares	104 km (65 mi)			Cees Bal (NED)
19	13 May	Madrid – Madrid	84 km (52 mi)			Alfons De Wolf (BEL)
	Total		3,373 km (2,096 mi)

Results

Final General Classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Joop Zoetemelk	Miko–Mercier	94h 57' 03"
2	Francisco Galdós	Kas–Campagnolo	+ 2' 43"
3	Michel Pollentier	Splendor–Euro Soap	+ 3' 21"
4	Faustino Rupérez	Moliner–Vereco	+ 5' 51"
5	Lucien Van Impe	Kas–Campagnolo	+ 6' 30"
6	Pedro Torres	Transmallorca–Flavia	+ 6' 49"
7	Felipe Yáñez	Novostil–Helios	+ 7' 41"
8	Christian Seznec	Miko–Mercier	+ 8' 03"
9	Fons De Wolf	Boule d'Or–Lano	+ 10' 01"
10	Julián Andiano	Moliner–Vereco	+ 10' 52"
11	Miguel María Lasa	Moliner–Vereco
12	Vicente López Carril	Teka
13	Raymond Martin	Miko–Mercier
14	Alberto Fernández	Moliner–Vereco
15	Herman Beysens	Splendor–Euro Soap
16	Manuel Esparza Sanz	Teka
17	Vicente Belda	Transmallorca–Flavia
18	José Pesarrodona	Teka
19	Ángel Arroyo	Moliner–Vereco
20	Juan Pujol Pages	Transmallorca–Flavia
21	Ismael Lejarreta	Novostil–Helios
22	Carlos Melero	Moliner–Vereco
23	Bernardo Alfonsel	Kas–Campagnolo
24	Jesús Suárez	Kas–Campagnolo
25	Gonzalo Aja Barguin	Novostil–Helios