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 , 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.
Teams and riders
Route
+List of stages Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner P 24 April Jerez de la Frontera to Jerez de la Frontera Individual time trial 1 25 April Jerez de la Frontera to Seville 2 26 April Seville to Córdoba 3 27 April Córdoba to Sierra Nevada 4 28 April Granada to Puerto Lumbreras 5 29 April Puerto Lumbreras to Murcia 6 30 April Murcia to Alcoy 7 1 May Alcoy to Sedaví 8a 2 May Sedaví to Benicàssim 8b Benicàssim to Benicàssim Individual time trial 9 3 May Benicàssim to Reus 10 4 May Reus to Zaragoza 11 5 May Zaragoza to Pamplona 12 6 May Pamplona to Logroño 13 7 May Haro to 14 8 May Torrelavega to Gijón 15 9 May Gijón to León 16a 10 May León to Valladolid 16b Valladolid to Valladolid Individual time trial 17 11 May Valladolid to Ávila 18a 12 May Ávila to Colmenar Viejo 18b Colmenar Viejo to Azuqueca de Henares 19 13 May Madrid to Madrid Total
Results Final General Classification
RankRiderTeamTime 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
References