The 37th Edition ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

race and one of the three

grand tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in fo ...

, was held from 20 April to 9 May 1982. It consisted of 19 stages covering a total of , and was won by

Marino Lejarreta Marino Lejarreta Arrizabalaga (born 14 May 1957) is a retired Spanish professional road racing cyclist. His biggest victory was capturing the 1982 Vuelta a España, a Grand Tour stage race, and he is the inaugural and record three-time winner of ...

of the Teka

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

. The Reynolds team controlled the race after team leader

Ángel Arroyo Angel Arroyo Lanchas (born 2 August 1956 in El Barraco) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. In the 1983 Tour de France, Arroyo won one stage and finished 2nd place in the general classification. In stage 17 of the 1982 Vuel ...

took the leader's jersey on the tenth stage. Arroyo kept the jersey until the finish of the race where he won the final individual time trial. Arroyo won the grand tour ahead of

and

Michel Pollentier Michel Pollentier (born 13 February 1951) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer. He became professional in 1973. The highlight of his career was his overall win in the 1977 Giro d'Italia. Pollentier is one of just three Belgian rid ...

. However 48 hours after his win, it emerged that in the doping control that was conducted after the stage 17 Arroyo tested positive. Three other riders also failed the doping test after stage 17: Alberto Fernández,

Vicente Belda Vicente Belda Vicedo (born 12 September 1954) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, born in Alfafara. He is now the manager of Spanish UCI Professional Continental outfit Fuerteventura–Canarias. Until 2006 he was the directeur s ...

and Pedro Muñoz. The four riders were said to have tested positive for

Methylphenidate Methylphenidate, sold under the brand names Ritalin ( ) and Concerta ( ) among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. It may be taken Oral adm ...

(which is also known as Ritalin) a stimulant. Methylphenidate was a popular drug for doping in cycling at that time. Arroyo and his team denied the allegations and asked for a second analysis of the sample. The B analysis confirmed the first positive test. Arroyo was assigned a 10-minute penalty and stripped of his Vuelta win which was given to Lejarreta. With the 10-minute penalty Arroyo went down to 13th place in the classification. The disqualification of the winner of the Vuelta has been called the worst scandal that has ever hit the race on the official La Vuelta website.

Teams and riders

Route

Results

Final General Classification

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuelta a Espana, 1982 1982 in road cycling

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1982 in Spanish sport April 1982 sports events in Europe May 1982 sports events in Europe 1982 Super Prestige Pernod