1942 Vuelta a España
4th Edition: June 30 - July 19, 1942
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1941 Vuelta a España winner Julian Berrendero
The race: Unipublic, the organizers of the Vuelta, have generously given me permission to post their history of the Vuelta. The text is Copyright Unipublic.
The fourth edition of Vuelta a España had a clear protagonist: the Spanish rider Julián Berrendero, who achieved his second consecutive triumph and showed himself to be the best Spanish rider of the moment. His superioriry was so great that he even could afford to fight for the victory in the Climbers Overall Standings, something he had to fight very hard against the Italian rider Brambilla, who did not made the grade in the hardest stages across the North of Spain.
People from Madrid were aware of the overwhelming superiority of the rider and they welcomed him like a hero the last day of the race. More than 100,000 people gathered in Casa de Campo to watch the end of the event and congratulate one of the few men who were able to win Vuelta a España for two consecutive times.
The way to triumph became more clear every day for Berrendero since the very beginning of the race. A puncture suffered by Fermín Trueba made him lose contact with the peloton and was forced to make a great effort in order to catch them up, effort he paid days later. The proceeding of the second stage could not have been better for Berrendero, since another of his rivals, Escuriet, decided to abandon the race in order to meet up with his wife and his newborn child, even if that meant to relinquish the final triumph.
In this way, the rider from Madrid virtually cruised to an easy victory along the Spanish roads and in order to prove it we just have to have a look at the more than eight minute lead he had over the second classified rider in the Individual Overall Standings. Diego Chafer, Antonio A. Sancho, Juan Jimeno and Cipriano Elys completed the first five positions in the Individual Overall Standings, though the difference regarding the winner were spectacular.
If Berrendero's opponents did not live up to the expectation they had aroused, the sprinter Delio Rodriguez could not match his spectacular performance in the third edition, either. Nevertheless, he achieved eight stage victories, a very acceptable number, though the twelve partial victories he achieved the previous year were even better.
- 40 starters, 18 classified finishers
- 3,683 kilometers raced at an average speed of 26.108 km/hr
- General classification leader wore an orange jersey
1. Madrid - Albacete, 245 km
2. Albacete - Murcia, 160 km
3. Murcia - Valencia, 248 km
4. Valencia - Tarragona, 278 km
5. Tarragona - Barcelona, 120 km
6. Barcelona - Huesca, 279 km
7. Huesca - San Sebastián, 305 km
8a. San Sebastián - Bilbao, 160 km
8b. Bilbao - Castro Urdiales, 53 km
9. Castro Urdiales - Santander, 151 km
10. Santander - Reinosa, 120 km
11. Reinosa - Gijón, 199 km
12a. Gijón - Oviedo, 75 km
12b. Oviedo - Luarca, 129 km
13. Luarca - La Coruña, 219 km
14a. La Coruña - Santiago, 63 km individual time trial
14b. Santiago - Vigo, 110 km
15. Vigo - Ponferrada, 270 km
16. Ponferrada - Salamanca, 251 km
17. Salamanca - Madrid, 248 km
Complete Final General Classification:
- Julian Berrendero: 134 hr 5min 9sec
- Diego Chafer @ 8min 38sec
- Antonio Andres Sancho @ 13min 12sec
- Juan Gimeno @ 16min 8sec
- Cipriano Elys @ 23min 30sec
- José Jabardo @ 27min 43sec
- Delio Rodriguez @ 33min 1sec
- Isidro Bejarano @ 35min 10sec
- José Botanch @ 38min 1sec
- Fermo Camellini @ 58min 20sec
- Alberto Carrasco @ 1hr 1min 42sec
- Vicento Miró @ 1hr 4min 9sec
- Joaquin Olmos @ 1hr 4min 54sec
- René Vietto @ 1hr 9min 56sec
- Louis Thiétard @ 1hr 32min 25sec
- Celestino Camilla @ 1hr 42min 7sec
- Pierre Brambilla @ 1hr 52min 29sec
- Antonio Destrieux @ 3hr 22min 1sec