The 56th edition of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance stage race and one of the three Grand Tours, was held from 8 September to 30 September 2001. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of , and was won by Ángel Casero of the cycling team at a speed of .
This edition of the Vuelta was notable for its final-stage time trial, during which Casero overcame a 25-second lead held by Óscar Sevilla of to win, while American Levi Leipheimer of managed to move past both teammate Roberto Heras and Juan Miguel Mercado to take third and become the first American ever to achieve a podium finish in the Vuelta. Additionally, Guido Trenti became the first American ever to win a stage in the race.
Teams
A total of 21 teams were invited to participate in the 2001 Vuelta a España. Fifteen of the competing squads were UCI Division I teams, while the other six teams were UCI Division II. Mercury–Viatel, who were previously scheduled to ride, didn't start. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, so the Vuelta began with a peloton of 189 cyclists, a total of 139 riders made it to the finish in Madrid.
The 21 teams invited to the race were:
Stages +Stage characteristics and winners Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner 1 8 September Salamanca Individual time trial 2 9 September Salamanca to Valladolid Flat stage 3 10 September Valladolid to León Flat stage 4 11 September León to Gijón Flat stage 5 12 September Gijón to Lagos de Covadonga Mountain stage 6 13 September Cangas de Onís to Torrelavega Medium-mountain stage 7 14 September Torrelavega Individual time trial 8 15 September Reinosa to Alto de la Cruz de la Demanda (Valdezcaray) Mountain stage 9 16 September Logroño to Zaragoza Flat stage 17 September Province of Barcelona Rest day 10 18 September Sabadell to La Molina Mountain stage 11 19 September Alp to Estació de Pal (Andorra) Mountain stage 12 20 September Ordino to Estació d'Esquí d'Ordino-Alcalís (Andorra) Mountain time trial 13 21 September Andorra to Universal Studios Port Aventura Hilly stage 14 22 September Tarragona to Vinaròs Flat stage 15 23 September Valencia to Alto de Aitana Mountain stage 24 September Province of Valencia Rest day 16 25 September Alcoy to Murcia Hilly stage 17 26 September Murcia to Albacete Flat stage 18 27 September Albacete to Cuenca Flat stage 19 28 September Cuenca to Guadalajara Hilly stage 20 29 September Guadalajara to Alto de Abantos Mountain stage 21 30 September Madrid Individual time trial Total
Jersey progress
Stage Winner General classification Points Classification Mountains Classification Team Classification 1(ITT) David Millar David Millar David Millar David Millar 2 Erik Zabel3 Erik Zabel Erik Zabel4 Erik Zabel Santiago Botero Karsten Kroon 5 Juan Miguel Mercado Óscar Sevilla Juan Miguel Mercado 6 David Millar7(ITT) Santiago Botero Santiago Botero 8 José María Jiménez Joseba Beloki Festina9 Igor González de Galdeano10 Santiago Blanco 11 José María Jiménez Óscar Sevilla José María Jiménez12 José María Jiménez José María Jiménez13 Beat Zberg14 Juan Manuel Gárate15 Claus Michael Møller16 Tomáš Konečný17 Robert Hunter18 Filippo Simeoni Erik Zabel19 Guido Trenti20 Gilberto Simoni José María Jiménez21(ITT) Santiago Botero Ángel Casero Stage Winner Ángel Casero José María Jiménez José María Jiménez
Final standings Legend Denotes the winner of the general classification Denotes the leader of the mountains classification Denotes the leader of the points classification Denotes the winner of the sprints classification
General classification
+ Final general classification (1–10) Rank Rider Team Time 1 2 + 0' 47" DSQ + 2' 59" 4 + 3' 56" 5 + 5' 45" 6 + 5' 53" 7 + 6' 57" 8 + 7' 13" 9 + 8' 32" 10 + 10' 31" Final general classification (11–25) Rank Rider Team Time 11 + 12' 58" 12 + 13' 32" 13 + 14' 00" 14 + 20' 07" 15 + 21' 01" 16 + 23' 32" 17 + 24' 23" 18 + 25' 01" 19 + 27' 14" 20 + 27' 58" 21 + 28' 56" 22 + 33' 30" 23 + 34' 03" 24 + 38' 45" 25 + 39' 06"
Points classification + Final points classification (1–10) Rank Rider Team Points 1 130 2 125 DSQ 115 4 102 5 101 DSQ . 93 7 89 8 88 9 77 10 70
Mountains classification + Final mountains classification (1–10) Rank Rider Team Points 1 162 2 110 3 88 4 82 5 55 6 53 7 50 8 49 9 48 10 42
Sprints classification + Final sprints classification (1–10) Rank Rider Team Time 1 40 2 20 3 19 4 16 5 14 6 12 7 12 8 12 9 11 10 11
Team classification + Final team classification (1–10) Rank Team Time 1 212h 05' 24" 2 + 23' 47" 3 + 26' 08" 4 + 1h 01' 11" 5 + 1h 03' 31" 6 + 1h 36' 55" 7 + 1h 53' 28" 8 + 1h 54' 12" 9 + 2h 08' 36" 10 + 2h 24' 36"
References
External links La Vuelta (Official site in Spanish, English, and French) Cyclingnews.com 2001 Vuelta a Espana coverage