| 2003 Vuelta a España | |
| Date: | 6–28 September |
| Stages: | 21 |
| Distance: | 2957 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 69h 31' 52" |
| Speed: | 42.55 |
| First: | Roberto Heras |
| First Nat: | ESP |
| First Team: | U.S. Postal |
| First Color: | gold |
| Second: | Isidro Nozal |
| Second Nat: | ESP |
| Second Team: | ONCE–Eroski |
| Third: | Alejandro Valverde |
| Third Nat: | ESP |
| Third Team: | Communidad Valenciana-Kelme |
| Points: | Erik Zabel |
| Points Nat: | GER |
| Points Color: | orangedots |
| Mountains: | Félix Cárdenas |
| Mountains Nat: | COL |
| Mountains Team: | Cage Maglierie |
| Mountains Color: | orange |
| Combination: | Alejandro Valverde |
| Combination Nat: | ESP |
| Combination Team: | Kelme–Costa Blanca |
| Combination Color: | blue |
| Team Nat: | ESP |
| Previous: | 2002 |
| Next: | 2004 |
The 58th edition of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 6 September to 28 September 2003. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 2957km (1,837miles), and was won by Roberto Heras of the U.S. Postal cycling team.[1]
Isidro Nozal lead the general classification for much of the race until succumbing to the pressure posed by Roberto Heras who closed the gap to Nozal over the final days and took the jersey in the final time trial. The points classification was won by Erik Zabel from Germany, the mountains classification was won by Félix Cárdenas from Colombia and the combination classification was won by Alejandro Valverde. iBanesto.com was the winner of the team ranking. Alessandro Petacchi, an Italian sprinter won five stages.
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 September | Gijón – Gijón | 28km (17miles) | Team time trial | |||||
| 2 | 7 September | Gijón – Cangas de Onís | 148km (92miles) | ||||||
| 3 | 8 September | Cangas de Onís – Santander | 154.3km (95.9miles) | ||||||
| 4 | 9 September | Santander – Burgos | 151km (94miles) | ||||||
| 5 | 10 September | Soria – Zaragoza | 166.7km (103.6miles) | ||||||
| 6 | 11 September | Zaragoza – Zaragoza | 43.8km (27.2miles) | ||||||
| 7 | 12 September | Huesca – Cauterets (France) | 190km (120miles) | ||||||
| 8 | 13 September | Cauterets – Pla de Beret/Val d'Aran | 166km (103miles) | ||||||
| 9 | 14 September | Vielha – Envalira (Andorra) | 174.8km (108.6miles) | ||||||
| 10 | 15 September | Andorra – Sabadell | 194km (121miles) | ||||||
| 16 September | Rest day | ||||||||
| 11 | 17 September | Utiel – Cuenca | 162km (101miles) | ||||||
| 12 | 18 September | Cuenca – Albacete | 168.8km (104.9miles) | ||||||
| 13 | 19 September | Albacete – Albacete | 53.3km (33.1miles) | ||||||
| 14 | 20 September | Albacete – Valdepeñas | 167.4km (104miles) | ||||||
| 15 | 21 September | Valdepeñas – La Pandera | 172.1km (106.9miles) | ||||||
| 22 September | Rest day | ||||||||
| 16 | 23 September | Jaén – Sierra Nevada | 162km (101miles) | ||||||
| 17 | 24 September | Granada – Córdoba | 188.4km (117.1miles) | ||||||
| 18 | 25 September | Las Rozas – Las Rozas | 143.8km (89.4miles) | ||||||
| 19 | 26 September | Alcobendas – Collado Villalba | 164km (102miles) | ||||||
| 20 | 27 September | San Lorenzo de El Escorial – | 11.2km (07miles) | Individual time trial | |||||
| 21 | 28 September | Madrid – Madrid | 148.5km (92.3miles) | ||||||
| Total | 2925km (1,818miles) | ||||||||
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Roberto Heras | U.S. Postal | 69h31'52" | |
| 2 | Isidro Nozal | ONCE–Eroski | '28" | |
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde | Kelme–Costa Blanca | 2'25" | |
| 4 | Igor González de Galdeano | ONCE–Eroski | 3'27" | |
| 5 | Francisco Mancebo | iBanesto.com | 4'47" | |
| 6 | Manuel Beltrán | U.S. Postal | 5'51" | |
| 7 | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank | 5'56" | |
| 8 |  Félix Cárdenas | Labarca 2-Cafe Baque | 6'33" | |
| 9 | Unai Osa | iBanesto.com | 6'52" | |
| 10 | Luis Pérez | Cofidis | 7'56" | |
| 11 | Santos González | 9'08" | ||
| 12 | Óscar Sevilla | Kelme–Costa Blanca | 9'52" | |
| 13 |  Michele Scarponi | Domina Vacanze–Elitron | 10'13" | |
| 14 | Marcos Serrano | Team ONCE | 12'51" | |
| 15 | Félix Garcia | Team Bianchi | 14'18" | |
| 16 | Txema Del Olmo | Milaneza–MSS | 14'38" | |
| 17 | Óscar Pereiro | Phonak Hearing Systems | 17'05" | |
| 18 | Iker Flores | 18'31" | ||
| 19 | Guido Trentin | Cofidis | 29'34" | |
| 20 | Josep Jufre | 33'30" | ||
| 21 | Dario Frigo | Fassa Bortolo | 40'19" | |
| 22 | Íñigo Cuesta | Cofidis | 41'18" | |
| 23 | Leonardo Piepoli | iBanesto.com | 46'45" | |
| 24 | Manuel Calvente | Team CSC | 47'54" | |
| 25 | Aitor Osa | iBanesto.com | 49'39" |