# 2004 Vuelta a España

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 2,925 km (1,818 mi), 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. 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.

## Route

List of stages :
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Type | Winner |
| 1 | 4 September | León – León | 28 km (17 mi) | | Team time trial | U.S. Postal Service |
| 2 | 5 September | León – Burgos | 207 km (129 mi) | | | Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) |
| 3 | 6 September | Burgos – Soria | 156 km (97 mi) | | | Alejandro Valverde (ESP) |
| 4 | 7 September | Soria – Zaragoza | 167 km (104 mi) | | | Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) |
| 5 | 8 September | Zaragoza – Morella | 186.5 km (116 mi) | | | Denis Menchov (RUS) |
| 6 | 9 September | Benicarló – Castellón de la Plana | 157 km (98 mi) | | | Óscar Freire (ESP) |
| 7 | 10 September | Castellón de la Plana – Valencia | 170 km (106 mi) | | | Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) |
| 8 | 11 September | Almussafes – Almussafes | 40.1 km (25 mi) | | Individual time trial | Tyler Hamilton Víctor Hugo Peña (COL) |
| 9 | 12 September | Xàtiva – Alto de Aitana | 162 km (101 mi) | | | Leonardo Piepoli (ITA) |
| 10 | 13 September | Alcoy – Xorret de Catí | 174.2 km (108 mi) | | | Eladio Jiménez (ESP) |
| 11 | 14 September | San Vicente del Raspeig – Caravaca de la Cruz | 165 km (103 mi) | | | David Zabriskie |
| | 15 September | | | | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day |
| 12 | 16 September | Almería – Calar Alto Observatory | 145 km (90 mi) | | | Roberto Heras (ESP) |
| 13 | 17 September | El Ejido – Málaga | 172 km (107 mi) | | | Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) |
| 14 | 18 September | Málaga – Granada | 167 km (104 mi) | | | Santiago Pérez (ESP) |
| 15 | 19 September | Granada – Sierra Nevada | 29.6 km (18 mi) | | Individual time trial | Santiago Pérez (ESP) |
| | 20 September | | | | Rest day | Rest day | Rest day |
| 16 | 21 September | Olivenza – Cáceres | 190.1 km (118 mi) | | | José Julia (ESP) |
| 17 | 22 September | Plasencia – La Covatilla | 170 km (106 mi) | | | Félix Cárdenas (COL) |
| 18 | 23 September | Béjar – Ávila | 196 km (122 mi) | | | Javier Pascual Rodríguez (ESP) |
| 19 | 24 September | Ávila – Collado Villalba | 142 km (88 mi) | | | Constantino Zaballa (ESP) |
| 20 | 25 September | Alcobendas – Puerto de Navacerrada | 178 km (111 mi) | | | José Enrique Gutiérrez (ESP) |
| 21 | 26 September | Madrid – Madrid | 28 km (17 mi) | | Individual time trial | Santiago Pérez (ESP) |
| | Total | Total | 2,925 km (1,818 mi) | 2,925 km (1,818 mi) | 2,925 km (1,818 mi) | 2,925 km (1,818 mi) | 2,925 km (1,818 mi) |

## Jersey progress

| Stage (Winner) | General classification | Points Classification | Mountains Classification | Combination Classification | Team Classification |
| 0Stage 1 (TTT) (U.S. Postal Service) | Floyd Landis | Floyd Landis | Floyd Landis | Floyd Landis | U.S. Postal Service |
| 0Stage 2 (Alessandro Petacchi) | Max van Heeswijk | Erik Zabel | Floyd Landis | Floyd Landis | U.S. Postal Service |
| 0Stage 3 (Alejandro Valverde) | Benoît Joachim | Stuart O'Grady | Floyd Landis | Floyd Landis | U.S. Postal Service |
| 0Stage 4 (Alessandro Petacchi) | Benoît Joachim | Erik Zabel | Floyd Landis | Floyd Landis | U.S. Postal Service |
| 0Stage 5 (Denis Menchov) | Manuel Beltrán | Stuart O'Grady | Juan Manuel Gárate | Floyd Landis | U.S. Postal Service |
| 0Stage 6 (Óscar Freire) | Manuel Beltrán | Stuart O'Grady | Francisco Mancebo | Manuel Beltrán | U.S. Postal Service |
| 0Stage 7 (Alessandro Petacchi) | Manuel Beltrán | Erik Zabel | Francisco Mancebo | Denis Menchov | U.S. Postal Service |
| 0Stage 8 (Tyler Hamilton) | Floyd Landis | Erik Zabel | Francisco Mancebo | Floyd Landis | U.S. Postal Service |
| 0Stage 9 (Leonardo Piepoli) | Floyd Landis | Erik Zabel | David Fernández | Francisco Mancebo | U.S. Postal Service |
| 0Stage 10 (Eladio Jiménez) | Floyd Landis | Stuart O'Grady | José Miguel Elías | Francisco Mancebo | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 11 (David Zabriskie) | Floyd Landis | Stuart O'Grady | José Miguel Elías | Alejandro Valverde | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 12 (Roberto Heras) | Roberto Heras | Stuart O'Grady | Roberto Heras | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 13 (Alessandro Petacchi) | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Roberto Heras | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 14 (Santiago Pérez) | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Roberto Heras | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 15 (ITT) (Santiago Pérez) | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Roberto Heras | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 16 (José Julía) | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Roberto Heras | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 17 (Félix Cárdenas) | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Félix Cárdenas | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 18 (Javier Pascual Rodríguez) | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Félix Cárdenas | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 19 (Constantino Zaballa) | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Félix Cárdenas | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 20 (José Enrique Gutiérrez) | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Félix Cárdenas | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| 0Stage 21 (ITT) (Santiago Pérez) | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Félix Cárdenas | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |
| Final | Roberto Heras | Erik Zabel | Félix Cárdenas | Roberto Heras | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme |

### General classification (final)

| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Roberto Heras (ESP) | Liberty Seguros | 77h42'46" |
| 2 | Santiago Pérez (ESP) | Phonak | 30" |
| 3 | Francisco Mancebo (ESP) | Illes Balears–Banesto | 2'13" |
| 4 | Alejandro Valverde (ESP) | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme | 3'30" |
| 5 | Carlos García Quesada (ESP) | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme | 7'44" |
| 6 | Carlos Sastre (ESP) | Team CSC | 8'11" |
| 7 | Isidro Nozal (ESP) | Liberty Seguros | 8'32" |
| 8 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante (ESP) | Paternina–Costa de Almería | 13'08" |
| 9 | Luis Pérez (ESP) | Cofidis | 13'24" |
| 10 | David Blanco (ESP) | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme | 15'15" |
| 11 | Stefano Garzelli (ITA) | Vini Caldirola–Nobili Rubinetterie | 16'33" |
| 12 | Marcos Serrano (ESP) | Liberty Seguros | 17'14" |
| 13 | Manuel Beltrán (ESP) | U.S. Postal Service | 17'43" |
| 14 | Francisco José Lara (ESP) | Paternina–Costa de Almería | 24'16" |
| 15 | Samuel Sánchez (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 29'23" |
| 16 | Damiano Cunego (ITA) | Saeco | 29'51" |
| 17 | Jorge Ferrío (ESP) | Paternina–Costa de Almería | 30'49" |
| 18 | David Plaza (ESP) | Cafe Baque | 31'24" |
| 19 | Eladio Jiménez (ESP) | Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme | 34'35" |
| 20 | Luis Pasamontes (ESP) | Relax–Bergasol | 37'49" |
| 21 | Unai Osa (ESP) | Illes Balears–Banesto | 38'06" |