The 2012 Vuelta a España

Vuelta a España

The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...

will start on 18 August 2012 and will be the 67th edition of te race. The race will begin in Pamplona

Pamplona

Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...

 with either a team time trial and will end, as traditional, on 9 september in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

. The 2012 edition will see the return of the Bola del Mundo mountain top finish. It was the venue of an exciting battle between winner Vincenzo Nibali

Vincenzo Nibali

Vincenzo Nibali is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who rides UCI ProTeam . Born near the Strait of Messina, Nibali's nickname is the "shark of the strait" or simply "the shark." His first major win came at the 2006 GP Ouest-France, where he beat an impressive field on a tough course...

 and runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera

Ezequiel Mosquera

Ezequiel Mosquera Míguez is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He has finished in the top 5 of the Vuelta a España in all appearances, and finished second in the 2010, after putting in a strong time trial and winning the penultimate stage to Bola del Mundo.On September 30,...

 in the 2010 edition

2010 Vuelta a España

The 2010 Vuelta a España was held from August 28 to September 19 and was won by Vincenzo Nibali. The race began in Seville and ended, as is tradition, in Madrid.The race covered...

.

It will be the first time since 1994

1994 Vuelta a España

The 49th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 25 to May 15, 1994. It consisted of 20 stages covering a total of 3531 km, and was won by Tony Rominger of the cycling team.Tony Rominger, winner of the past two editions, was once...

 that the race will visit the region of Navarre

Navarre

Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...

. Pamplona was most recently visited by a Grand Tour in 1996, when the city hosted the finish of a memorable stage of the 1996 Tour de France

1996 Tour de France

The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on June 29 and ending on July 21, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day ....

. On that occasion, the race paid homage to Miguel Indurain by passing through his home village of Villava en route.

Stages

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	18 August	Pamplona Pamplona Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...			(Team) Time Trial
2	19 August	Pamplona Pamplona Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...  - Viana Viana Viana is the name of some places:*Viana do Bolo, Galicia, Spain*Viana do Castelo, Portugal*Viana, Navarre, Spain*Viana, Maranhão, Brazil*Viana, Espírito Santo, Brazil*Viana, Angolaorganization...			Flat Stage

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