16th Vuelta a Espana 1961

Young Spaniard Wins the Vuelta for Spain

A young and talented Spanish rider emerged on the scene in 1961 to help the Vuelta a Espana recover from a disappointing race in 1960.

SPECIAL NOTE: because of events linked to the war in Algeria the Vuelta organizers made changes to the Stage 2 race route. Originally scheduled to run from Pamplune to Bayonne officials substituted a circuit race between Pamplune and Estella to replace original route.

Spirited and aggressive racing was featured through the first 10 stages. The race lead changed hands three times coming into stage 11, Madrid to Valladolid . A ten rider breakaway established itself early in the stage, most notable 4th placed Andre Messelis (Bel). Six additional rider connect and the 16 rider group finished 11'29" ahead of the peloton. Messelis becomes new race leader with 4'21" in advance on Marcel Seynaeve (Bel). Young Spaniard Angelino Soler was 5th 11'27" behind the race leader.

A decisive shakeup in the overall classification occurred on stage 14. The stage contained the very difficult ascension of the Orduna. King of the Mountains leader Antonio Karmany rolled over the summit of the Orduna more than 6 minutes ahead of an elite 5 rider chase group headed by young Spaniard Angelino Soler. After catching Karmany the breakaway worked well together and rode into the finish 8'57” ahead of the race leader. Messelis, who had suffered several punctures and a broke wheel, maintained the overall lead, but his advantage was a slimmed to 1'24” on Soler and 2'15” on Francois Mahe (Fra).

Soler charge to the top of the General Classification came on the final stage. Just after the stage started in Bilboa a massive crash on a tramline slowed Soler, but injured Messelis. The race leader suffered a broken nose and finished the stage over 7 minutes behind the Soler group. The overall leader passed to Angelino Soler on the final stage.

Angelino Soler became the youngest winner of the Vuelta a Espana.

Stage and Distance	Stage Winner	Race Leader
Stage 1a San Sebastian , 10.5 km TTT	FAEMA	Eusebio Velez (Spa)
Stage 1b San Sebastian-Pamplona, 91 km	Marcel Rohrbach (Fra)	Eusebio Velez (Spa)
Stage 2 Pamplona-Pamplona, 174 km	Francois Mahe (Fra)	Eusebio Velez (Spa)
Stage 3 Pamplona-Huesca, 174 km	Vicente Iturat (Spa)	Francois Mahe (Fra)
Stage 4 Binefar-Barcelona, 199 km	Marcel Seynaeve (Bel)	Jose-LuisTalamillo (Spa)
Stage 5 Barcelona-Tortosa, 185 km	Jesus Galdeano (Spa)	Jose-LuisTalamillo (Spa)
Stage 6 Tortosa-Valencia, 188 km	Angelino Soler (Spa)	Jose-LuisTalamillo (Spa)
Stage 7 Valencia-Benidorm, 141 km	Rene Van Meenen (Bel)	Marcel Seynaeve (Bel)
Stage 8 Benidorm-Albacete, 211 km	Jose Perez-Frances (Spa)	Marcel Seynaeve (Bel)
Stage 9 Albacete-Madrid, 198 km	Alves Barbosa (Spa)	Marcel Seynaeve (Bel)
Stage 10 Madrid-Madrid, 195 km	Luis Otano (Spa)	Marcel Seynaeve (Bel)
Stage 11 Madrid-Valladolid, 189 km	Arthur De Cabooter (Bel)	Andre Messelis (Bel)
Stage 12 Valladolid-Palencia, 48 km ITT	Antonio Suarez (Spa)	Andre Messelis (Bel)
Stage 13 Palencia-Santander, 220 km	Francisco Moreno (Spa)	Andre Messelis (Bel)
Stage 14 Santander-Vitoria, 235 km	Francois Mahe (Fra)	Andre Messelis (Bel)
Stage 15 Vitoria-Bilbao, 179 km	Antonio Karmany (Spa)	Andre Messelis (Bel)
Stage 16 Bilbao-Bilbao, 159 km	Gabriel Company (Spa)	Angelino Soler (Spa)
	BEST CLIMBER PRIZE	Antonio Karmany (Spa)
	POINTS COMPETITION	Antonio Suarez (Spa)

VaE 1960

VaE 1962

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