1935 Vuelta a España
1st Edition: April 29- May 15, 1935
Vuelta a España main page | 1936 edition
1935, 1st Edition, Madrid - Madrid, April 29th - May 15th
Map of the 1935 Vuelta a España
- 14 Stages, 3,425 kilometers
- 50 Riders started: 21 retirees.
- Average speed: 28.537 Km/hour.
Unipublic, the organizers of the Vuelta, have generously given me permission to post their history of the Vuelta. The text below is Copyright Unipublic.
The history of Vuelta a España is closely related to the media. If nowadays it would be imposible to develop such an enourmous event without the help of the different media, which report even the smallest detail, the first edition of Vuelta a España, held in 1935, could be carried out thanks to Diario Informaciones, organizer of the event.
The conditions which the 50 riders had to go through turned this first edition into a real odyssey; at the end, the race was won by the Belgian rider Gustave Deloor, after a fierce fight against the Spanish rider Mariano Cañardo, who suffered all kind of misfortunes which prevented him from achieving the first position in the Individual Overall Standings.
The riders had to cover 3,411 kilometers, divided in 14 stages, 10 of which were more than 250 kilometers long, something which would be almost unthinkable for the present professionals. Besides, they had to use heavy bicycles made of iron which underwent constant punctures and damages which had to be repaired by the riders themselves and sometimes they were forced to finish the stages using bicycles that the spectators lent them.
Given the slight importance that riders and managers dedicated to training at that time, the riders decided that the best way to face the race was to drink a cocktail made by Perico Chicote. Orange Bitters, Grand Marnier, Cordón rojo, Curaçao naranja, English gin and half a glass of Italian vermouth were the ingredients of the magic formula which allowed them to face a race described by some of the riders as the hardest one they had ever known till that moment.
The 29th of April the fascinating history of Vuelta a España began; that year the quality of the race was reduced because of the coincidence with Il Giro de Italia. As early as in the first stages several riders such as Escuriert, Ezquerra, Montero and Trueba were forced to abandon, turning Deloor and Cañardo into the two only candidates for the final tiumph. The Belgian rider showed a more regular performance and was able to achieve the deserved victory as the 14-minute lead he had over Cañardo proved.
Only four Spanish riders were able to achieve a partial victory: Escuriet, first Spanish leader in the history of Vuelta a España, Cañardo, Cardona and Montes. Nevertheless, the most important thing was already done. A brilliant event had been set into motion that year, reaching such an unthinkable magnitude nowadays that those people who organized and took part in this first edition of Vuelta a España could not have imagined.
50 riders started, 29 finished.
3,455 km total distance raced at an average speed of 27.20 km/hr
Final winner Gustaaf Deloor
Complete Final General Classification:
- Gustaaf Deloor: 120hr 1min 2sec
- Mariano Cañardo @ 12min 33sec
- Antoine Dignef @ 19min 15sec
- Edoardo Molinar @ 22min 42sec
- Max Bulla @ 27min 56sec
- Alfons Deloor @ 46min 32sec
- Paolo Bianchi @ 50min 56sec
- Fernand Fayolle @ 52min 3sec
- Walter Blattmann @ 1hr 8min 7sec
- Marinus Valentijn @ 1hr 8min 51sec
- Salvador Cardona @ 1hr 12min 35sec
- Léo Amberg @ 1hr 13min 51sec
- Juan Gimeno @ 1hr 17min 38sec
- Gerrit Van der Ruit @ 1hr 24min 20sec
- François Adam @ 1hr 35min 45sec
- Vicente Bachero @ 1hr 37min 30sec
- Francisco Cepeda @ 1hr 40min 43sec
- Antonio Andres Sancho @ 1hr 57min 42sec
- Americo Tuero @ 2hr 40min 34sec
- Salvador Molina @ 2hr 46min 43sec
- Isidro Figueras @ 2hr 41min 14sec
- Antonio Montes @ 3hr 21min 28sec
- Joaquin Bailon @ 3hr 24min 43sec
- Manuel Gines @ 3hr 45min 13sec
- Karl Thallinger @ 3hr 51min 25sec
- Ramon Ruiz Trillo @ 4hr 9min 5sec
- Rafael Pou @ 4hr 10min 53sec
- Luis Esteve @ 4hr 12min 33sec
- Francisco Mula @ 5hr 45min 2sec