1992 Vuelta a España

1992 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates		27 April - 17 May
Stages		20 + Prologue, including one split stage
Distance		3,395 km (2,110 mi)
Winning time		96h 14' 50"
Results
	Winner	Tony Rominger (SUI)	(CLAS-Cajastur)
	Second	Jesús Montoya (ESP)	(Amaya Seguros)
	Third	Pedro Delgado (ESP)	(Banesto)
	Points	Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB)	(Carrera Jeans)
	Mountains	Carlos Hernández Bailo (ESP)	(Lotus-Festina)
	Youth	Arturas Kasputis (LIT)	(Ryalcao Postobón)
	Combination	Tony Rominger (SUI)	(CLAS-Cajastur)
	Sprints	Antonio Esparza (ESP)	(Wigarma)
	Team	Amaya Seguros

The 47th Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 27 to May 17, 1992. It consisted of 20 stages covering a total of 3395 km, and was won by Tony Rominger of the Clas-Cajastur cycling team.

Race preview and favorites

Among the starters in Jerez de la Frontera were such big names as Erik Breukink, Robert Millar, Steven Rooks and Stephen Roche. However, none of them seemed to arrive in good form, and none of them lived up to their reputation. Among the locals, the defending champion Melchor Mauri, Pedro Delgado and Laudelino Cubino were the favorites.

Race overview

The first decisive stage was the first individual time trial, won by Dutch rider Erik Breukink. The big surprise that day was pure climber Jesús Montoya who managed second on the stage and took the leader's jersey. Rominger, suffering from a concussion and a knee injury due to an earlier crash, lost almost three minutes.

Two days later, during the queen stage in the Pyrenees, with 5 major mountain passes ending with the ascensions of the Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden, the names of the contenders became clear, as Mauri lost over forty minutes and Rominger dropped the other contenders on the final climb, to finish second to the stage winner Lale Cubino who had spent the day in a breakaway. Cubino, who until then seemed like a candidate for the overall win, lost time on the ascension of Lagos de Covadonga, where Delgado took the stage and rose to second overall. Montoya limited his losses to Delgado, and Rominger finished right with him after being initially dropped.

As Montoya and Delgado closely marked each other's attacks, they were unable to increase their advantage on Rominger who took the lead with a commanding performance in the final flat time trial. After this, Montoya and Delgado joined forces over the final mountain stage, but were unable to unseat Rominger who once again won the stage.

Thus, Rominger became the first Swiss rider to win the Vuelta. He was joined on the final podium by Jesús Montoya and Pedro Delgado.

Results

Final General Classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Tony Rominger	CLAS-Cajastur	96h 14' 50"
2	Jesús Montoya	Amaya Seguros	1' 04"
3	Pedro Delgado	Banesto	1' 42"
4	Marco Giovannetti	Gatorade - Chateau D'ax	5' 19"
5	Federico Echave	CLAS-Cajastur	5' 34"
6	Laudelino Cubino	Amaya Seguros	6' 24"
7	Fabio Parra	Amaya Seguros	7' 24"
8	Raúl Alcalá	PDM-Concorde	12' 50"
9	Francisco Javier Mauleón	CLAS-Cajastur	15' 44"
10	Steven Rooks	Buckler	18' 57"
11	Gert-Jan Theunisse	TVM-Sanyo	19' 39"
12	Pedro Ruiz Cabestany	Gatorada-Chateaux d'Ax	19' 41"
13	Luis Camargo	Ryalco-Postobon
14	Stephen Roche	Carrera Jeans–Vagabond
15	Johan Bruyneel	ONCE
16	Hernán Buenahora	Kelme-Don Café
17	William Palacios	Ryalco-Postobon
18	Piotr Ugrumov	Seur
19	Edgar Corredor	Sicasal-Arcal
20	Robert Millar	TVM-Sanyo
21	Fabio Rodríguez	Clas-Cajastur
22	Carlos Hernández Bailo	Lotus-Festina
23	Jon Unzaga Bombin	Clas-Cajastur
24	Arsenio González	Clas-Cajastur
25	Luis Perez Garcia	Lotus-Festina

External links

• La Vuelta (Official site in Spanish, English, and French)