1973 Vuelta a España to win the 1973 Giro d'Italia and became the first cyclist to win the Vuelta-Giro double. Merckx also won the points classification and José Luis Abilleira won the mountains classification. With Merckx finishing first, Ocaña second and Thévenet third the podium of the 1973 Vuelta contained one previous winner and two future winners of the Tour de France making it one of the best podiums in the history of the race, according to the official race website. Gerben Karstens won 4 stages in this Vuelta A total of eight teams were invited to participate in the 1973 Vuelta a España.
1970 Vuelta a España 1970 Vuelta a España The 1970 Vuelta a España was the 25th Vuelta a España, taking place from 23 April to 12 May 1970. It consisted of 19 stages over , ridden at an average speed of . The race revealed Augustín Tamames as a contender for the future at the Vuelta as Tamames riding in his first Vuelta held in the final week the race lead until the final individual time trial when Luis Ocaña time trialled himself into the lead. Ocaña had finished runner up in the previous edition of the race and won the two time trials