The 2009 Vuelta a España was the 64th Vuelta a España. The event took place from 29 August to 20 September 2009. For only the second time in the race's history, it began away from Spanish soil, with the race not in fact reaching Spain until Stage 5.

The 2009 Vuelta has been described as having an easy start and a hard finish. This is because of the short individual time trial and three perfectly flat stages in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium (along with another in Spain in the race's first week), and eight of the final fourteen stages being mountain stages, with four mountaintop finishes.

The race was won by Spain's Alejandro Valverde who claimed his first grand tour victory.

Teams

29 teams sought places in the race, of which 21 were initially invited to compete. , one of two UCI ProTour teams omitted from the list of invited teams, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and were subsequently granted the right to enter. are thus the only ProTour team absent from the race.

Stages

+Stage characteristics and winners StageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner 129 AugustAssen (Netherlands) Individual time trial 230 AugustAssen (Netherlands) to Emmen (Netherlands) Flat stage 331 AugustZutphen (Netherlands) to Venlo (Netherlands) Flat stage 41 SeptemberVenlo (Netherlands) to Liège (Belgium) Flat stage2 September Rest/travel day 53 SeptemberTarragona to Vinaròs Flat stage 64 SeptemberXàtiva Flat stage 75 SeptemberValencia Individual time trial 86 SeptemberAlzira to Alto de Aitana Mountain stage 97 SeptemberAlcoy to Xorret de Catí Mountain stage 108 SeptemberAlicante to Murcia Flat stage 119 SeptemberMurcia to Caravaca de la Cruz Transition stage10 September Rest day 1211 SeptemberAlmería to Alto de Velefique Mountain stage 1312 SeptemberBerja to Sierra Nevada Mountain stage 1413 SeptemberGranada to La Pandera Mountain stage 1514 SeptemberJaén to Córdoba Transition stage 1615 SeptemberCórdoba to Puertollano Flat stage 1716 SeptemberCiudad Real to Talavera de la Reina Flat stage 1817 SeptemberTalavera de la Reina to Ávila Transition stage 1918 SeptemberÁvila to La Granja de San Ildefonso Mountain stage 2019 SeptemberToledo Individual time trial 2120 SeptemberRivas-Vaciamadrid to Madrid Flat stage Total

Race overview

Classification leadership In the 2009 Vuelta a España, four different jerseys are awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding the finishing times of the stages per cyclist after deduction of time bonuses for high placings in stage finishes and at intermediate sprints, the leader receives a golden jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Vuelta a España, and the winner of the general classification is considered the winner of the Vuelta.

Additionally, there is also a points classification, which awards a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists receive points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. The winner gets 25 points, second place 20, third 16, fourth 14, fifth 12, sixth 10, and one point per place less down the line, to a single point for fifteenth. In addition, some points can be won in intermediate sprints.

There is also a mountains classification, which awards a red jersey. In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Each climb is categorized, with most of the climbs being either first, second, third, or fourth category. There are also three "special category" climbs (equivalent to hors catégorie in the Tour de France); these are the stage finishes on the Alto de Aitana, the Alto de Sierra Nevada, and the Sierra de La Pandera. These climbs award even more points than a first-category climb.

Finally, there is the combination classification. This is calculated by adding the rankings in the general, points and mountains classifications; the cyclist with the lowest combined ranking is the leader in the combination classification, and receives a white jersey.

There is also a classification for teams. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per stage are added, and the team with the lowest time is the leader.

Stage Winner General classificationMaillot Oro Points classificationMaillot Puntos Mountains classificationMaillot Montaña Combination ClassificationMaillot Combinada Team classificationClasificación por equipos 1 Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Fabian CancellaraNot Awarded Fabian Cancellara 2 Gerald Ciolek Tom Boonen Tom Leezer 3 Greg Henderson 4 André Greipel André GreipelLars Boom Dominik Roels 5 André Greipel André Greipel Aitor Hernández Serafín Martínez 6 Borut Božič José Antonio López 7 Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara Dominik Roels 8 Damiano Cunego Cadel EvansDavid Moncoutié Cadel Evans 9 Gustavo César Veloso Alejandro Valverde 10Simon GerransDavid de la Fuente 11Tyler FarrarDavid Moncoutié 12Ryder Hesjedal Alejandro Valverde 13David Moncoutié 14Damiano Cunego Alejandro Valverde 15 Lars Boom 16 André Greipel André Greipel 17 Anthony Roux 18Philip Deignan 19Juan José CoboAlejandro Valverde 20David Millar 21André Greipel Final Alejandro Valverde André Greipel David Moncoutié Alejandro Valverde Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions If a cyclist leads two or more competitions at the end of a stage, he receives all those jerseys. In the next stage, he can only wear one jersey, and he wears the jersey representing leadership in the most important competition (golden first, then green, then granate, then white). The other jerseys that the cyclists owns are worn in the next stage by the second-place (or, if needed, third or fourth-place) rider in that classification. In Stage 2, Tom Boonen wore the green jersey, and Tyler Farrar wore the white jersey In Stage 3, Gerald Ciolek wore the white jersey In Stage 4, Greg Henderson wore the white jersey In Stages 6 & 7, Tom Boonen wore the green jersey In Stage 9, Damiano Cunego wore the white jersey In Stage 13, Cadel Evans wore the white jersey In Stages 14–19, Robert Gesink wore the white jersey In Stage 15 & 16, André Greipel wore the green jersey In Stage 20, Ezequiel Mosquera wore the white jersey In Stage 21, Samuel Sánchez wore the white jersey

Final standings After stage 21

General Classification RiderTeamTime 1 87h 22' 37" 2 + 55" 3 + 1' 32" 4 + 2' 12" 5 + 4' 27" 6 + 6' 40" 7 + 9' 08" 8 + 9' 11" 9 + 11' 08" DSQ + 11' 27"

Points Classification RiderTeamPoints1 1502 1113 1014 995 896 687 688 689 6410 64

King of the Mountains Classification RiderTeamPoints 1 186 2 99 3 73 4 67 5 61 6 60 7 59 8 58 9 5410 52

Combination Classification RiderTeamPoints1 72 173 174 195 226 297 408 52DSQ 5310 58

Teams Classification TeamTime1261h 57' 19"2 + 23' 43"3 + 31' 39"4 + 39' 37"5 + 52' 13"6 + 57' 35"7 + 1h 04' 40"8 + 1h 07' 04"9 + 1h 19' 27"10 + 1h 34' 05"

World Rankings points The Vuelta was the penultimate event in the 2009 UCI World Ranking. The rankings leader, Alberto Contador, did not compete in the event, but five of the top ten did, including the race winner, Valverde, who earned enough points to ensure that the title was not yet decided. Valverde, however, remained banned from riding in Italy, and so did not take part in the final ranking event, the 2009 Giro di Lombardia.

Vuelta Rider Team Nationality Stage pointsPoints for final positionTotal 18170188 14130144 10100110 128092 19091 117081 7373 164460 6060 163854 5252 3333 13233 3232 3131 2828 2626 2424 2424 2424 2323 2222 1818 1818 1818 1818 1717 1616 1616 1616 1616 1616 Contentpolis-Ampo 21416 11011 1010 99 88 88 88 88 88 88 88 66 44 44 44 44 44 44 22 22 22 22 Contentpolis-Ampo 22 22 22 2211 11 11 11 11

References

External links

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