2011 Vuelta a España Vuelta announced on 8 September that the 2012 event will start in the Navarrese city of Pamplona. "For details see 2011 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11 and 2011 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21" The Vuelta began with a team time trial in Benidorm. The squad won this stage. Danish General Classification contender Jakob Fuglsang passed the finish line as first and was the first cyclist to wear the red leaders jersey. Fuglsang lost the leaders jersey after just one day to team-mate Daniele Bennati in a sprinter's stage which was won by Christopher Sutton
2011 Vuelta a España 2011 Vuelta a España The 2011 Vuelta a España was held from 20 August to 11 September. The race began in Benidorm with a team time trial and ended, as is traditional, in Madrid. The 2011 Vuelta was the 66th edition of the race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited the Basque Country. The 33-year absence from the region was due to fear of political protests. Critics claim that it was a race well suited for the climbers due to the minimum time trial kilometres and lots of climbing kilometres. 9 of the 21 stages were