2001 Vuelta a España

2001 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates		8–30 September
Stages		21
Distance
Winning time		70h 49' 05
Palmares
	Winner	Ángel Casero (ESP)	(Festina)
	Second	Óscar Sevilla (ESP)	(Kelme–Costa Blanca)
	Third	Levi Leipheimer (USA)	(U.S. Postal Service)
Jersey awarded to the points classification winner	Points	José María Jiménez (ESP)	(iBanesto.com)
	Mountains	José María Jiménez (ESP)	(iBanesto.com)
	Team	iBanesto.com

The 56th Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance stage race and one of the 3 Grand Tours, was held from September 8 to September 30, 2001. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 3,012 km, and was won by Ángel Casero of the Festina cycling team at a speed of 42.534 km/h.

This edition of the Vuelta was notable for its final-stage time trial, during which Casero overcame a 25-second lead held by Óscar Sevilla of Kelme–Costa Blanca to win, while American Levi Leipheimer of U.S. Postal Service managed to move past both teammate Roberto Heras and Juan Miguel Mercado to take third and become the first American ever to achieve a podium finish in the Vuelta. Additionally, Guido Trenti became the first American ever to win a stage in the race.

General classification (final)

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Ángel Casero (ESP)	Festina	70:49:05
2	Óscar Sevilla (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	0:47
3	Levi Leipheimer (USA)	U.S. Postal Service	2:59
4	Roberto Heras (ESP)	U.S. Postal Service	3:56
5	Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP)	iBanesto.com	5:45
6	David Plaza (ESP)	Festina	5:53
7	José Luis Rubiera (ESP)	U.S. Postal Service	6:57
8	Claus Møller (DEN)	Milaneza-MSS	7:13
9	Aitor Osa (ESP)	iBanesto.com	8:32
10	Fernando Escartín (ESP)	Team Coast	10:31
11	Iban Mayo (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	12:58
12	Roberto Laiseka (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	13:32
13	Iñigo Cuesta (ESP)	Cofidis	14:00
14	Luis Pérez Rodríguez (ESP)	Festina	20:07
15	Félix García Casas (ESP)	Festina	21:01
16	Tomáš Konečný (CZE)	Domo–Farm Frites–Latexco	23:32
17	José María Jiménez (ESP)	iBanesto.com	24:23
18	Santiago Botero (COL)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	25:01
19	Manuel Beltrán (ESP)	Mapei–Quick-Step	27:14
20	Franco Pellizotti (ITA)	Alessio	27:58
21	Santiago Blanco (ESP)	iBanesto.com	28:56
22	Unai Osa (ESP)	iBanesto.com	33:30
23	Roberto Conti (ITA)	Cantina Tollo–Acqua e Sapone	34:03
24	Richard Virenque (FRA)	Domo–Farm Frites–Latexco	38:45
25	Mikel Zarrabeitia (ESP)	ONCE–Eroski	39:04

Jersey progress

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points Classification	Mountains Classification	Team Classification
1 (ITT)	David Millar	David Millar	David Millar	David Millar	Kelme–Costa Blanca
2	Erik Zabel
3	Erik Zabel		Erik Zabel
4	Erik Zabel	Santiago Botero		Karsten Kroon	Mapei–Quick-Step
5	Juan Miguel Mercado	Óscar Sevilla		Juan Miguel Mercado	iBanesto.com
6	David Millar
7 (ITT)	Santiago Botero	Santiago Botero			Kelme–Costa Blanca
8	José María Jiménez	Joseba Beloki			Festina
9	Igor González de Galdeano
10	Santiago Blanco				iBanesto.com
11	José María Jiménez	Óscar Sevilla		José María Jiménez
12	José María Jiménez		José María Jiménez
13	Beat Zberg
14	Juan Manuel Gárate
15	Claus Michael Møller
16	Tomáš Konečný
17	Robert Hunter
18	Filippo Simeoni		Erik Zabel
19	Guido Trenti
20	Gilberto Simoni		José María Jiménez
21 (ITT)	Santiago Botero	Ángel Casero

External links

• La Vuelta (Official site in Spanish, English, and French)
• Cyclingnews.com 2001 Vuelta a Espana coverage