1968 Vuelta a España
# 1968 Vuelta a España

The 23rd edition of Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 25 April to 12 May 1968. It consisted of 18 stages covering a total of 3,014 km (1,873 mi). Basque nationalist ETA terrorists detonated a bomb along the course on stage 15, causing that day's racing to be annulled. The race was won by Felice Gimondi of the Salvarani cycling team. With this win in the 1968 Vuelta a España, the 1967 Giro d'Italia and the 1965 Tour de France, Gimondi became the second cyclist after Jacques Anquetil to win all three grand tours in his career. Defending champion Jan Janssen won the points competition and 1966 champion Francisco Gabica won the mountains classification.

## Route

List of stages :

| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Type | Winner |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1a | 25 April | Zaragoza – Zaragoza | 130 km (81 mi) | | | Jan Janssen (NED) |
| 1b | 25 April | Zaragoza – Zaragoza | 4 km (2 mi) | | Individual time trial | Jan Janssen (NED) |
| 2 | 26 April | Zaragoza – Lleida | 195 km (121 mi) | | | Michael Wright (GBR) |
| 3a | 27 April | Lleida – Barcelona | 165 km (103 mi) | | | Tommaso de Pra (ITA) |
| 3b | 27 April | Barcelona – Barcelona | 38 km (24 mi) | | | Rudi Altig (FRG) |
| 4 | 28 April | Barcelona – Salou | 108 km (67 mi) | | | Michael Wright (GBR) |
| 5 | 29 April | Salou – Vinaròs | 106 km (66 mi) | | | Rudi Altig (FRG) |
| 6 | 30 April | Vinaròs – Valencia | 148 km (92 mi) | | | Pietro Guerra (ITA) |
| 7 | 1 May | Valencia – Benidorm | 144 km (89 mi) | | | Wilfried Peffgen (FRG) |
| 8 | 2 May | Benidorm – Almansa | 167 km (104 mi) | | | Manuel Martín Piñera (ESP) |
| 9 | 3 May | Almansa – Alcázar de San Juan | 230 km (143 mi) | | | José María Errandonea (ESP) |
| 10 | 4 May | Alcázar de San Juan – Madrid | 173 km (107 mi) | | | Domingo Perurena (ESP) |
| 11 | 5 May | Madrid – Palencia | 242 km (150 mi) | | | Ramón Sáez (ESP) |
| 12 | 6 May | Villalón de Campos – Gijón | 236 km (147 mi) | | | José Pérez Francés (ESP) |
| 13 | 7 May | Gijón – Santander | 203 km (126 mi) | | | Victor Van Schil (BEL) |
| 14 | 8 May | Santander – Vitoria | 244 km (152 mi) | | | Eduardo Castelló (ESP) |
| 15 | 9 May | Vitoria – Pamplona | | | | Annulled |
| 16 | 10 May | Pamplona – San Sebastián | 204 km (127 mi) | | | Luis Santamarina (ESP) |
| 17 | 11 May | San Sebastián – Tolosa | 67 km (42 mi) | | Individual time trial | Felice Gimondi (ITA) |
| 18 | 12 May | Tolosa – Bilbao | 206 km (128 mi) | | | Manuel Martín Piñera (ESP) |
| | Total | Total | 3,014 km (1,873 mi) | 3,014 km (1,873 mi) | 3,014 km (1,873 mi) | 3,014 km (1,873 mi) |

## Results

### Final General Classification

| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Felice Gimondi | Salvarani | 78h 29' 00" |
| 2 | José Pérez Francés | Kas–Kaskol | + 2' 15" |
| 3 | Eusebio Vélez | Fagor | + 5' 08" |
| 4 | José María Errandonea | Fagor | + 5' 19" |
| 5 | Vittorio Adorni | Faema | + 5' 26" |
| 6 | Jan Janssen | Pelforth | + 5' 43" |
| 7 | Antonio Gómez del Moral | Kas–Kaskol | + 5' 55" |
| 8 | Carlos Echeverría | Kas–Kaskol | + 6' 00" |
| 9 | Lucien Aimar | Bic | + 6' 40" |
| 10 | Jos Spruyt | Faema | + 7' 50" |
| 11 | Luis Otaño Arcelus | Fagor | |
| 12 | Jean-Pierre Ducasse | Pelforth | |
| 13 | Francisco Gabica | Fagor | |
| 14 | Michael Wright | Bic | |
| 15 | Ventura Díaz Arrey | Ferrys | |
| 16 | José Manuel Lopez | Fagor | |
| 17 | José Antonio Momeñe | Fagor | |
| 18 | Rudi Altig | Salvarani | |
| 19 | Andrés Gandarias | Kas–Kaskol | |
| 20 | Cees Haast | Bic | |
| 21 | Fernando Manzaneque | Karpy | |
| 22 | Wilfried Peffgen | Salvarani | |
| 23 | Victor Van Schil | Faema | |
| 24 | Domingo Perurena | Fagor | |
| 25 | Sebastián Elorza Uria | Kas–Kaskol | |
