2001 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	September 8–30, 2001 (2001-09-08 – 2001-09-30)
Stages	21
Distance	3,012.2 km (1,872 mi)
Winning time	70h 49' 05"
Results
Winner  Ángel Casero (ESP) (Festina)   Second  Óscar Sevilla (ESP) (Kelme–Costa Blanca)   Third  Levi Leipheimer (USA) (U.S. Postal Service) Points  José María Jiménez (ESP) (iBanesto.com) Mountains  José María Jiménez (ESP) (iBanesto.com) Sprints  César García Calvo (ESP) (Colchon Relax–Fuenlabrada)   Team iBanesto.com
← 2000 2002 →

The 56th edition of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance stage race and one of the three Grand Tours, was held from 8 September to 30 September 2001. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 3,012 km (1,872 mi), and was won by Ángel Casero of the Festina cycling team at a speed of 42.534 km/h (26.429 mph).

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.^[1]

A total of 21 teams were invited to participate in the 2001 Vuelta a España. Fifteen of the competing squads were UCI Division I teams, while the other six teams were UCI Division II. Mercury–Viatel, who were previously scheduled to ride, didn't start. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, so the Vuelta began with a peloton of 189 cyclists, a total of 139 riders made it to the finish in Madrid.

The 21 teams invited to the race were:

Stage characteristics and winners

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	8 September	Salamanca	12 km (7 mi)		Individual time trial	David Millar (GBR)
2	9 September	Salamanca to Valladolid	147.2 km (91 mi)		Flat stage	Erik Zabel (GER)
3	10 September	Valladolid to León	140.5 km (87 mi)		Flat stage	Erik Zabel (GER)
4	11 September 2001	León to Gijón	175 km (109 mi)		Flat stage	Erik Zabel (GER)
5	12 September	Gijón to Lagos de Covadonga	160.8 km (100 mi)		Mountain stage	Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP)
6	13 September	Cangas de Onís to Torrelavega	180.6 km (112 mi)		Medium-mountain stage	David Millar (GBR)
7	14 September	Torrelavega	44.2 km (27 mi)		Individual time trial	Santiago Botero (COL)
8	15 September	Reinosa to Alto de la Cruz de la Demanda (Valdezcaray)	195 km (121 mi)		Mountain stage	José María Jiménez (ESP)
9	16 September	Logroño to Zaragoza	179.2 km (111 mi)		Flat stage	Igor González de Galdeano (ESP)
	17 September	Province of Barcelona			Rest day
10	18 September	Sabadell to La Molina	168.4 km (105 mi)		Mountain stage	Santiago Blanco (ESP)
11	19 September	Alp to Estació de Pal (Andorra)	154.2 km (96 mi)		Mountain stage	José María Jiménez (ESP)
12	20 September	Ordino to Estació d'Esquí d'Ordino-Alcalís (Andorra)	17.1 km (11 mi)		Mountain time trial	José María Jiménez (ESP)
13	21 September	Andorra to Universal Studios Port Aventura	206 km (128 mi)		Hilly stage	Beat Zberg (SUI)
14	22 September	Tarragona to Vinaròs	170.5 km (106 mi)		Flat stage	Juan Manuel Gárate (ESP)
15	23 September	Valencia to Alto de Aitana	207.2 km (129 mi)		Mountain stage	Claus Michael Møller (DEN)
	24 September	Province of Valencia			Rest day
16	25 September	Alcoy to Murcia	153.3 km (95 mi)		Hilly stage	Tomáš Konečný (CZE)
17	26 September	Murcia to Albacete	159.5 km (99 mi)		Flat stage	Robert Hunter (RSA)
18	27 September	Albacete to Cuenca	154.2 km (96 mi)		Flat stage	Filippo Simeoni (ITA)
19	28 September	Cuenca to Guadalajara	168 km (104 mi)		Hilly stage	Guido Trenti (USA)
20	29 September	Guadalajara to Alto de Abantos	176.3 km (110 mi)		Mountain stage	Gilberto Simoni (ITA)
21	30 September	Madrid	38 km (24 mi)		Individual time trial	Santiago Botero (COL)
	Total		3,012.2 km (1,872 mi)

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the general classification		Denotes the leader of the mountains classification
	Denotes the leader of the points classification		Denotes the winner of the sprints classification

Final general classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Ángel Casero (ESP)	Festina	70h 49' 05"
2	Óscar Sevilla (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	+ 0' 47"
DSQ	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 Michael Møller (DEN)	Milaneza–MSS	+ 7' 13"
9	Aitor Osa (ESP)	iBanesto.com	+ 8' 32"
10	Fernando Escartín (ESP)	Team Coast–Buffalo	+ 10' 31"

Final general classification (11–25)
Rank	Rider	Team	Time
11	Iban Mayo (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 12' 58"
12	Roberto Laiseka (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 13' 32"
13	Íñigo 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 & Sapone	+ 34' 03"
24	Richard Virenque (FRA)	Domo–Farm Frites–Latexco	+ 38' 45"
25	Mikel Zarrabeitia (ESP)	ONCE–Eroski	+ 39' 06"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	José María Jiménez (ESP)	iBanesto.com	130
2	Erik Zabel (GER)	Team Telekom	125
DSQ	Levi Leipheimer (USA)	U.S. Postal Service	115
4	Santiago Botero (COL)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	102
5	Óscar Sevilla (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	101
DSQ	David Millar (GBR)	Cofidis.	93
7	Claus Michael Møller (DEN)	Milaneza–MSS	89
8	Ángel Casero (ESP)	Festina	88
9	Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP)	iBanesto.com	77
10	Sven Teutenberg (GER)	Festina	70

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	José María Jiménez (ESP)	iBanesto.com	162
2	Claus Michael Møller (DEN)	Milaneza–MSS	110
3	Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP)	iBanesto.com	88
4	Óscar Sevilla (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	82
5	José Luis Rubiera (ESP)	U.S. Postal Service	55
6	Gilberto Simoni (ITA)	Lampre–Daikin	53
7	Roberto Heras (ESP)	U.S. Postal Service	50
8	Íñigo Cuesta (ESP)	Cofidis	49
9	Santiago Blanco (ESP)	iBanesto.com	48
10	Félix Cárdenas (COL)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	42

Sprints classification

Final sprints classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	César García Calvo (ESP)	Colchon Relax–Fuenlabrada	40
2	Robert Hunter (RSA)	Lampre–Daikin	20
3	Óscar Laguna (ESP)	Colchon Relax–Fuenlabrada	19
4	Erik Zabel (GER)	Team Telekom	16
5	Pedro Díaz Lobato (ESP)	Jazztel–Costa de Almería	14
6	José Manuel Vázquez (ESP)	Colchon Relax–Fuenlabrada	12
7	Germán Nieto (ESP)	Colchon Relax–Fuenlabrada	12
8	Juan Manuel Gárate (ESP)	Lampre–Daikin	12
9	Karsten Kroon (NED)	Rabobank	11
10	Guido Trenti (ITA)	Cantina Tollo–Acqua & Sapone	11

Team classification

Final team classification (1–10)

Rank	Team	Time
1	iBanesto.com	212h 05' 24"
2	U.S. Postal Service	+ 23' 47"
3	Festina	+ 26' 08"
4	Kelme–Costa Blanca	+ 1h 01' 11"
5	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 1h 03' 31"
6	Milaneza–MSS	+ 1h 36' 55"
7	ONCE–Eroski	+ 1h 53' 28"
8	Cofidis	+ 1h 54' 12"
9	Mapei–Quick-Step	+ 2h 08' 36"
10	Domo–Farm Frites–Latexco	+ 2h 24' 36"

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