| 2004 Vuelta a España | |
| Date: | 4–26 September |
| Stages: | 21 |
| Distance: | 2925 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 77h 42' 46" |
| Speed: | 37.62 |
| First: | Roberto Heras |
| First Nat: | ESP |
| First Color: | gold |
| Second: | Santiago Pérez |
| Second Nat: | ESP |
| Third: | Francisco Mancebo |
| Third Nat: | ESP |
| Points: | Erik Zabel |
| Points Nat: | GER |
| Points Color: | blue-fish |
| Mountains: | Félix Cárdenas |
| Mountains Nat: | COL |
| Mountains Team: | Orbitel |
| Mountains Color: | granate |
| Combination: | Roberto Heras |
| Combination Nat: | ESP |
| Combination Color: | white |
| Previous: | 2003 |
| Next: | 2005 |
The 59th 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 4 September to 26 September 2004. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 2925km (1,818miles), and was won by Roberto Heras of the Liberty Seguros cycling team.
Halfway through the 2004 Vuelta, it appeared it would become an easy win for Heras, but in the last week his fellow countryman Santiago Pérez won two heavy mountain stages, thus becoming an important rival. Eventually Heras won with only 30 seconds advantage on Pérez. Pérez and Phonak hearing systems teammate Tyler Hamilton would later test positive for blood doping from blood samples taken during the race.[1] Francisco Mancebo, also from Spain took third. The first non-Spaniard was Stefano Garzelli from Italy in 11th. 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 Roberto Heras. Kelme was the winner of the team ranking. Alessandro Petacchi, an Italian sprinter won four stages, but he did not finish the Vuelta.
See main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 2004 Vuelta a España.
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 September | León – León | 28km (17miles) | Team time trial | ||||
| 2 | 5 September | León – Burgos | 207km (129miles) | |||||
| 3 | 6 September | Burgos – Soria | 156km (97miles) | |||||
| 4 | 7 September | Soria – Zaragoza | 167km (104miles) | |||||
| 5 | 8 September | Zaragoza – Morella | 186.5km (115.9miles) | |||||
| 6 | 9 September | Benicarló – Castellón de la Plana | 157km (98miles) | |||||
| 7 | 10 September | Castellón de la Plana – Valencia | 170km (110miles) | |||||
| 8 | 11 September | Almussafes – Almussafes | 40.1km (24.9miles) | |||||
| 9 | 12 September | Xàtiva – Alto de Aitana | 162km (101miles) | |||||
| 10 | 13 September | Alcoy – Xorret de Catí | 174.2km (108.2miles) | |||||
| 11 | 14 September | San Vicente del Raspeig – Caravaca de la Cruz | 165km (103miles) | |||||
| 15 September | Rest day | |||||||
| 12 | 16 September | Almería – Calar Alto Observatory | 145km (90miles) | |||||
| 13 | 17 September | El Ejido – Málaga | 172km (107miles) | |||||
| 14 | 18 September | Málaga – Granada | 167km (104miles) | |||||
| 15 | 19 September | Granada – Sierra Nevada | 29.6km (18.4miles) | |||||
| 20 September | Rest day | |||||||
| 16 | 21 September | Olivenza – Cáceres | 190.1km (118.1miles) | |||||
| 17 | 22 September | Plasencia – La Covatilla | 170km (110miles) | |||||
| 18 | 23 September | Béjar – Ávila | 196km (122miles) | |||||
| 19 | 24 September | Ávila – Collado Villalba | 142km (88miles) | |||||
| 20 | 25 September | Alcobendas – Puerto de Navacerrada | 178km (111miles) | |||||
| 21 | 26 September | Madrid – Madrid | 28km (17miles) | |||||
| Total | 2925km (1,818miles) | |||||||
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77h42'46" | |||
| 2 | 30" | |||
| 3 | 2'13" | |||
| 4 | 3'30" | |||
| 5 | 7'44" | |||
| 6 | 8'11" | |||
| 7 | 8'32" | |||
| 8 | Paternina–Costa de Almería | 13'08" | ||
| 9 | 13'24" | |||
| 10 | 15'15" | |||
| 11 | 16'33" | |||
| 12 | 17'14" | |||
| 13 | 17'43" | |||
| 14 | Paternina–Costa de Almería | 24'16" | ||
| 15 | 29'23" | |||
| 16 | 29'51" | |||
| 17 | Paternina–Costa de Almería | 30'49" | ||
| 18 | Cafe Baque | 31'24" | ||
| 19 | 34'35" | |||
| 20 | Relax–Bergasol | 37'49" | ||
| 21 | 38'06" |