1947 Vuelta a España
7th Edition: May 12 - June 5, 1947
Vuelta a España main page | 1946 edition | List of stages | Final 1947 Vuelta GC
1947 Vuelta winner Edouard van Dyck
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.
Manuel Costa was about to achieve in this edition the triumph which he could not get the previous year either, but he saw, once again, how the victory was achieved by a rival when the race was about to finish. This time it was the Belgian rider Edouard Van Dyck the one who stood in Costa's way, what means that the Yellow Jersey travelled for a third time to a foreign country. Before this time, only the Belgian rider Gustave Deloor had been able to win Vuelta a España; it was in 1935 and 1936, when the Spanish race was starting out and the conditions in which it was disputed were completely contrary to the present ones.
The tireless Delio Rodriguez, who was the winner in seven stages, ruled completely the first part of the race. He achieved the leadership the first day and was able to keep it until the 12th, when Costa launched his attack and gained an advantage of eight minutes over Rodriguez, who had to add ten more seconds as a penalty for having been helped by a vehicle in one moment of the stage. In this way, the brilliant sprinter lost his option to the final victory, which was now at the mercy of Costa.
However, Van Dyck´s remarkable skill in flat stages and time trials allowed the Belgian rider to obtain the victory which the Spanish rider was about to get. Despite having been unable to get the triumph, more than 50,000 people gave Costa an ovation in the Metropolitan Stadium the last day of the race.
Finally, Manuel Costa was the second classified rider, followed by Delio Rodriguez, Emilio Rodriguez and Joaquín Olmos.
Having a look at the Climbers Overall Standings, Emilio Rodriguez repeated his triumph of the previous year with an advantage of two points over Martín Mancisidor and four over Costa himself, who narrowly missed winning two victories and had to make do with the acknowledgment and admiration of the enthusiasts, since he was never able to achieve a single victory in Vuelta a España.
- 47 starters, 27 classified finishers
- 3,792 kilometers raced at an average speed of 28.30 km/hr
- The GC leader wore a white jersey in the 1947 Vuelta
1. Madrid-Albacete, 243 km
2. Albacete-Murcia, 146 km
3. Murcia-Alcoy, 135 km
4. Alcoy-Castellon, 175 km
5. Castellon-Tarragona, 222 km
6. Tarragona-Barcelona, 119 km
7. Barcelona-Lerida, 162 km
8. Lerida-Zaragoza, 144 km
9. Zaragoza-Pamplona, 176 km
10. Pamplona-San Sebastian, 107 km
11. San Sebastian-Bilbao, 229 km
12. Bilbao-Santander, 212 km
13. Santander-Reinosa, 201 km
14. Reinosa-Gijon, 204 km
15. Gijon-Oviedo, 105 km
16a. Oviedo-Luarca, 101 km
16b. Luarca-Ribadeo, 70 km individual time trial
17. Ribadeo-El Ferrol, 170 km
18. El Ferrol-La Coruna, 70 km
19. La Coruna-Vigo, 180 km
20. Vigo-Orense, 105 km
21. Orense-Astorga, 228 km
22. Astorga-Leon, 47 km individual time trial
23. Leon-Valladolid, 133 km
24. Valladolid-Madrid, 220 km
Complete Final General Classification:
- Edouard van Dyck: 132hr 27min 0sec
- Manuel Costa @ 2min 14sec
- Delio Rodriguez @ 11min 4sec
- Emilio Rodriguez @ 25min 55sec
- Joaquin Olmos @ 39min 55sec
- Julian Berrendero @ 40min 30sec
- Domenico Pedrali @ 52min 58sec
- Félix Adriano @ 1hr 0min 9sec
- Rik Renders @ 1hr 4min 30sec
- José Perez @ 1hr 18min 55sec
- Frans Pauwels @ 2hr 10min 35sec
- Pedro Font @ 2hr 21min 44sec
- José Lahoz @ 2hr 34min 30sec
- Vicente Carretero @ 2hr 46min 30sec
- José-Antonio Landa @ 2hr 58min 17sec
- Vees Van de Voorde @ 2hr 59min 21sec
- Senen Blanco @ 3hr 41min 5sec
- Joaquin Jimenez @ 3hr 55min 55sec
- José Escolano @ 4hr 56min 44sec
- Arturo Ponte @ 5hr 7min 3sec
- Andres Moran @ 5hr 7min 5sec
- Bruno Bertolucci @ 5hr 28min 8sec
- Alejandro Fombellida @ 6hr 18min 8sec
- José Casorran @ 7hr 21min 17sec
- Martin Mancisidor @ 8hr 20min 3sec
- Pascual Laza @ 11hr 1min 13sec
- Angel Alonso @ 12hr 49min 38sec