| 2006 Vuelta a España | |
| Series: | 2006 UCI ProTour |
| Race No: | 23 |
| Season No: | 27 |
| Date: | 26 August – 17 September |
| Stages: | 21 |
| Distance: | 3192 |
| Unit: | km |
| Time: | 81h 23' 07" |
| Speed: | 39.22 |
| First: | Alexander Vinokourov |
| First Nat: | KAZ |
| First Color: | gold |
| Second: | Alejandro Valverde |
| Second Nat: | ESP |
| Third: | Andrey Kashechkin |
| Third Nat: | KAZ |
| Points: | Thor Hushovd |
| Points Nat: | NOR |
| Points Color: | blue-fish |
| Mountains: | Egoi Martínez |
| Mountains Nat: | ESP |
| Mountains Color: | orange |
| Combination: | Alexander Vinokourov |
| Combination Nat: | KAZ |
| Combination Color: | white |
| Team Nat: | USA |
| Previous: | 2005 |
| Next: | 2007 |
The 2006 Vuelta a España was held from 26 August to 17 September 2006, and was the 61st edition of the race. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 3192km (1,983miles), and was won by Alexander Vinokourov of the cycling team. The points classification was won by Thor Hushovd of, and the mountains classification by Egoi Martínez of .
See main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 2006 Vuelta a España.
In addition to the 20 UCI ProTour teams, Relax–GAM have received a wild card.
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 Aug | Málaga – Málaga | 7.2 km | Team time trial | ||
| 2 | 27 Aug | Málaga – Córdoba | 167 km | Paolo Bettini | ||
| 3 | 28 Aug | Córdoba – Almendralejo | 220 km | Francisco Ventoso | ||
| 4 | 29 Aug | Almendralejo – Cáceres | 142 km | Erik Zabel | ||
| 5 | 30 Aug | Plasencia – Estación de Esquí La Covatilla (Béjar) | 178 km | Mountain stage* | Danilo Di Luca | |
| 6 | 31 Aug | Zamora – León | 155 km | Thor Hushovd | ||
| 7 | 1 Sept | León – Alto de El Morredero (Ponferrada) | 148 km | Mountain stage* | Alejandro Valverde | |
| 8 | 2 Sept | Ponferrada – Lugo | 173 km | Alexander Vinokourov | ||
| 9 | 3 Sept | A Fonsagrada – Alto de La Cobertoria | 206 km | Mountain stage* | Alexander Vinokourov | |
| 4 Sept | Rest Day | |||||
| 10 | 5 Sept | Avilés – Museo de Altamira (Santillana del Mar) | 190 km | Sérgio Paulinho | ||
| 11 | 6 Sept | Torrelavega (Velódromo Óscar Freire) – Burgos | 165 km | Mountain stage | Egoi Martínez | |
| 12 | 7 Sept | Aranda de Duero – Guadalajara | 162 km | Luca Paolini | ||
| 13 | 8 Sept | Guadalajara – Cuenca | 170 km | Samuel Sánchez | ||
| 14 | 9 Sept | Cuenca – Cuenca | 33 km | Individual time trial | David Millar | |
| 15 | 10 Sept | Motilla del Palancar – Factoría Ford (Almussafes) | 175 km | Robert Förster | ||
| 11 Sept | Rest Day | |||||
| 16 | 12 Sept | Almería – Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto | 145 km | Mountain stage* | Igor Antón | |
| 17 | 13 Sept | Adra – Granada | 167 km | Mountain stage | Thomas Danielson | |
| 18 | 14 Sept | Granada – Sierra de la Pandera | 153 km | Mountain stage* | Andrey Kashechkin | |
| 19 | 15 Sept | Jaén – Ciudad Real | 195 km | José Luis Arrieta | ||
| 20 | 16 Sept | Rivas Futura – Rivas Vaciamadrid | 28 km | Individual time trial | Alexander Vinokourov | |
| 21 | 17 Sept | Madrid – Madrid | 150 km | Erik Zabel |
Jersey wearers when same rider is holding multiple jerseys:
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alexander Vinokourov | 81h 23' 07" | ||
| 2 |  Alejandro Valverde | 1' 12" | ||
| 3 | Andrey Kashechkin | 3' 12" | ||
| 4 | Carlos Sastre | 3' 35" | ||
| 5 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | 6' 51" | ||
| 6 |  | |||
| 7 | Samuel Sánchez | 8' 26" | ||
| 8 | Manuel Beltrán | 10' 36" | ||
| 9 |  Vladimir Karpets | 10' 47" | ||
| 10 | Luis Pérez Rodríguez | 11' 32" |
In 2006, the leader of the points classification is awarded a blue with yellow-fish-covered jersey, which is sponsored by Spain's fishing and marine industry known as FROM (or El Fondo de Regulación y Organización del Mercado de Productos de la Pesca y Cultivos Marinos).http://www.from.mapya.es/
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Thor Hushovd | 199 | ||
| 2 | Alexander Vinokourov | 163 | ||
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde | 147 | ||
| 4 | Samuel Sánchez | 107 | ||
| 5 | Erik Zabel | 104 | ||
| 6 |  Stuart O'Grady | 104 | ||
| 7 | Francisco Ventoso | 99 | ||
| 8 | Andrey Kashechkin | 95 | ||
| 9 | Carlos Sastre | 93 | ||
| 10 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | 68 |
In 2006, the leader of the climbers classification (or King of the Mountains) wears the orange jersey sponsored by Ford. In recent years, the KoM wore a red jersey.
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egoi Martínez | 129 | ||
| 2 |  Pietro Caucchioli | 117 | ||
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde | 98 | ||
| 4 | Andrey Kashechkin | 84 | ||
| 5 | Alexander Vinokourov | 82 | ||
| 6 | José Miguel Elías | Relax–GAM | 70 | |
| 7 | Igor Antón | 67 | ||
| 8 | Carlos Sastre | 63 | ||
| 9 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | 60 | ||
| 10 | David Arroyo | 58 |
In 2006, the leader of the combinations classification wears the white jersey. In 2005, the rider with the lowest cumulative rank of all classifications wore a gold-green jersey.
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexander Vinokourov | 8 | ||
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde | 8 | ||
| 3 | Andrey Kashechkin | 15 | ||
| 4 | Carlos Sastre | 21 | ||
| 5 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | 24 | ||
| 6 | Samuel Sánchez | 25 | ||
| 7 | Tom Danielson | 28 | ||
| 8 | Egoi Martínez | 31 | ||
| 9 | Igor Antón | 39 | ||
| 10 | Manuel Beltrán | 43 |
| Rank | Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 201h 59' 16" | |
| 2 | | 15' 25" | |
| 3 | | 25' 33" | |
| 4 | | 32' 13" | |
| 5 | 52' 56" | ||
| 6 | | 1h 40' 02" | |
| 7 | | 1h 43' 20" | |
| 8 |  | 2h 02' 55" | |
| 9 | Relax–GAM | 2h 16' 26" | |
| 10 | | 2h 20' 33" |