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.
2010 Vuelta a España 2010 Vuelta a España The 2010 Vuelta a España was held from 28 August to 19 September and was won by Vincenzo Nibali. The race began in Seville and ended, as is tradition, in Madrid. The race covered . There was critical analysis that this Vuelta, which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the first edition of the race, was an especially difficult one and that stage 16 was the queen stage. The stage 1 team time trial was held at night. Vuelta runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera and teammate David García Dapena were announced on September 30 to have given positive tests