1963 Vuelta a España 1963 Vuelta a España The 18th Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 1 May to 15 May 1963. It consisted of 15 stages covering a total of , and was won by Jacques Anquetil of the St. Raphael-Gitane cycling team. Not only did Anquetil complete his Grand Tour treble, this also marked the first time in history a rider won two Grand Tours in the same calendar year for his team sponsor (since most Grand Tours from the 1930s until the early 1960s were contested
Vuelta a España boost they brought to the circulations of their sponsoring newspapers ("L'Auto" and "La Gazzetta dello Sport" respectively); Juan Pujol of the daily "Informaciones" instigated the race to increase its circulation. It was originally held in the spring, usually late April, with a few editions held in June in the 1940s. In 1995, however, the race moved to September to avoid direct competition with the Giro d'Italia, held in May. As a result, the Vuelta is now often seen as an important preparation for the World Championships, which moved to October the same year. A Vuelta was also organized in August