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Viva La Vuelta! 1935 2018Stock informationGeneral Fields
Special Fields
DescriptionBetween the two images depicted on the front cover lie almost 85 years of Vuelta a España history. In 1935, day after day, Mariano Cañardo carried the fight to the powerful Belgian squad; in 2018 a young Englishman, Simon Yates, stood on the top step of the podium after a race-long battle with the veteran Alejandro Valverde. In the intervening years the Vuelta has survived a civil war, four decades of dictatorship, periods of economic and diplomatic isolation, desperate years when the country was close to famine, disruption through political violence, and finally the restoration of democracy and Spain's welcome into the European Community. The race has changed hands several times and been shifted from spring to late summer. It has seen the triumph of some of cycling's greats, like Anquetil, Merckx and Hinault (who won twice and with greater panache); it has also given a range of other top cyclists, such as Lucho Herrera and Sean Kelly, the opportunity to taste the glory of winning a grand tour; then there have been the unknowns who came along and, out of the blue, surprised everybody by winning. And above all the history of the Vuelta recounts the story of the Spanish cyclists whose lives reflect the incredible changes their country has undergone in those 85 years. |