1945 Vuelta a España
5th Edition: May 10 - May 31, 1945
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1945 Vuelta a España winner Delio Rodriguez
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.
People fond of cycling were deprived of Vuelta a España for two years because of the Second World War and the difficult economic situation which Spain was going through. Diario Ya took charge of the organization of the race and they were able to keep the fifth edition going, though with serious difficulties. Cycling and journalism were again walking hand in hand until 1978, although since 1955 El Correo Español-PuebloVasco replaced the Diario Ya in several organizational works.
The cruel war deprived the enthusiasts of the presence of the great foreign riders and only six Portuguese riders started the race in Madrid. Nevertheless, the enthusiasts waned their thirst for cycling with the participation of the most brilliant Spanish figures of the moment: Delio Rodriguez, Chafer, Langarica, Berrendero, Fermín Trueba and Juan Gemino, among others.
None of them started as one of the favorite riders, thing which the rider Delio Rodriguez took good advantage of in order to decide the result of the race in the second stage, an absolute record. He tried a breakway along with another five riders, who pulled away as the kilometers went by.
Rodriguez was able to arrive solo at The Finish with a difference of almost half an hour over the peloton.
From that moment on, the rest of the peloton had to make do with fighting for the Climbers Overall Standings, which was won by Julián Berrendero, who took a one-point lead over Joao Rebelo.
In the Overall Standings, Delio Rodriguez took a 30-minute lead over the second classified rider and more than 60 minutes over Antonio Martín, who was fifth. Juan Jimeno, third and Miguel Gual, fourth, completed the first five positions in the Individual Overall Standings. Along with his final triumph, Rodriguez also achieved six partial victories, less than in previous editions, though, obviously, the real important thing for him was the Individual Overall Standings.
- 52 starters, 26 classified finishers
- 3,718 kilometers raced at an average speed of 27.392 km/hr
- The GC leader wore a red jersey in the 1945 Vuelta
1. Madrid - Salamanca, 212 km
2. Salamanca - Caceres, 214 km
3. Caceres - Badajoz, 132 km
4. Badajoz - Almendralejo, 57 km individual time trial
5. Almendralejo - Sevilla, 171 km
6. Sevilla - Granada, 251 km
7. Granada - Murcia, 285 km
8. Murcia - Valencia, 244 km
9. Valencia - Tortosa, 188 km
10. Tortosa - Barcelona, 188 km
11. Barcelona - Zaragoza, 306 km
12. Zaragoza - San Sebastian, 276 km
13. San Sebastian - Bilbao, 207 km
14. Bilbao - Santander, 188 km
15. Santander - Reinosa, 110 km
16. Reinosa - Gijon, 200 km
17. Gijon - Leon, 172 km
18. Leon - Valladolid, 132 km
19. Valladolid - Madrid, 185 km
Complete Final General Classification:
- Delio Rodriguez: 135hr 43min 55sec
- Julian Berrendero @ 30min 8sec
- Juan Gimeno @ 38min 18sec
- Miguel Gual @ 49min 53sec
- Antonio Martin @ 1hr 9min 1sec
- João Rebelo @ 1hr 9min 9sec
- Diego Chafer @ 1hr 12min 41sec
- Bernardo Capo @ 1hr 17min 20sec
- Alejandro Fombellida @ 1hr 18min 18sec
- Pedro Font @ 1hr 20min 21sec
- Manuel Costa @ 1hr 25min 41sec
- Joaquin Olmos @ 1hr 26min 6sec
- José Gutierrez @ 1hr 35min 5sec
- Dalmacio Langarica @ 1hr 46min 7sec
- Pastor Rodriguez @ 2hr 37min 59sec
- Gabriel Palmer @ 2hr 38min 11sec
- Julio Mourão @ 2hr 49min 44sec
- Miguel Casas @ 3hr 2min 14sec
- Antonio Andres Sancho @ 3hr 8min 22sec
- Vicente Miro @ 3hr 24min 20sec
- Joaquin Jimenez @ 4hr 5min 44sec
- Bernardo Ruiz @ 4hr 26min 15sec
- Aniceto Bruno @ 4hr 38min 56sec
- Felix Vidaurreta @ 5hr 18min 36sec
- Imperio Dos Santos @ 5hr 56min 25sec
- José Lizaralde @ 8hr 34min 54sec