# 2006 Vuelta a España

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 3,192 km (1,983 mi), and was won by Alexander Vinokourov of the Astana cycling team. The points classification was won by Thor Hushovd of Crédit Agricole, and the mountains classification by Egoi Martínez of Discovery Channel.

## Teams and riders

In addition to the 20 UCI ProTour teams, Relax–GAM have received a wild card.

## List of stages

| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner |
| 1 | 26 Aug | Málaga – Málaga | 7.2 km | Team time trial | Team CSC |
| 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 |
* Mountain stages with asterisk end on the top of the climb.

### Stage recaps

* Vuelta a España 2006, Stage 1 to Stage 11
* Vuelta a España 2006, Stage 12 to Stage 21

## Jersey progress

| Stage (Winner) | General classification | Points Classification | Mountains Classification | Combination Classification | Team Classification |
| 0Stage 1 (TTT) (Team CSC) | Carlos Sastre | Carlos Sastre | no award | no award | Team CSC |
| 0Stage 2 (Paolo Bettini) | Thor Hushovd | Paolo Bettini | Mario De Sárraga | Mario De Sárraga | Team CSC |
| 0Stage 3 (Francisco Ventoso) | Thor Hushovd | Thor Hushovd | Mario De Sárraga | David de la Fuente | Team CSC |
| 0Stage 4 (Erik Zabel) | Thor Hushovd | Thor Hushovd | Mario De Sárraga | David de la Fuente | Team CSC |
| 0Stage 5 (Danilo Di Luca) | Danilo Di Luca | Thor Hushovd | Danilo Di Luca | Danilo Di Luca | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 6 (Thor Hushovd) | Danilo Di Luca | Thor Hushovd | Danilo Di Luca | Danilo Di Luca | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 7 (Alejandro Valverde) | Janez Brajkovič | Thor Hushovd | Janez Brajkovič | Janez Brajkovič | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 8 (Alexander Vinokourov) | Janez Brajkovič | Thor Hushovd | Janez Brajkovič | Janez Brajkovič | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 9 (Alexander Vinokourov) | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 10 (Sérgio Paulinho) | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 11 (Egoi Martínez) | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 12 (Luca Paolini) | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 13 (Samuel Sánchez) | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 14 (ITT) (David Millar) | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 15 (Robert Förster) | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 16 (Igor Antón) | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 17 (Tom Danielson) | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 18 (Andrei Kashechkin) | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alejandro Valverde | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 19 (José Luis Arrieta) | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alexander Vinokourov | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 20 (ITT) (Alexander Vinokourov) | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alexander Vinokourov | Discovery Channel |
| 0Stage 21 (Erik Zabel) | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alexander Vinokourov | Discovery Channel |
| Final | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alexander Vinokourov | Discovery Channel |
Jersey wearers when same rider is holding multiple jerseys:
* Lars Bak wore the points jersey in stage 2
* Paolo Bettini wore the points jersey in stages 4–5
* Janez Brajkovič wore the white combination jersey in stages 6–7
* José Miguel Elías wore the orange mountains jersey in stages 6–7
* Danilo Di Luca wore the orange mountains jersey in stages 8–9
* Alejandro Valverde wore the white combination jersey in stages 8–9
* Carlos Sastre wore the white combination jersey in stages 8–16
* Alexander Vinokourov wore the white combination jersey in stage 17
* Andrey Kashechkin wore the white combination jersey in stage 19-21
* When he has been 2nd in combination classification behind GC leader, Alejandro Valverde has worn white jersey of UCI ProTour leader. This happened on stages 8, 9, 19, 20 and 21.

## Final standings
### General classification (final)

| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Alexander Vinokourov | Astana | 81h 23' 07" |
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 1' 12" |
| 3 | Andrey Kashechkin | Astana | 3' 12" |
| 4 | Carlos Sastre | Team CSC | 3' 35" |
| 5 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | Saunier Duval–Prodir | 6' 51" |
| 6 | Tom Danielson | Discovery Channel | 8' 09" |
| 7 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 8' 26" |
| 8 | Manuel Beltrán | Discovery Channel | 10' 36" |
| 9 | Vladimir Karpets | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 10' 47" |
| 10 | Luis Pérez Rodríguez | Cofidis | 11' 32" |

### Points classification

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). Archived 2008-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
| 1 | Thor Hushovd | Crédit Agricole | 199 |
| 2 | Alexander Vinokourov | Astana | 163 |
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 147 |
| 4 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 107 |
| 5 | Erik Zabel | Team Milram | 104 |
| 6 | Stuart O'Grady | Team CSC | 104 |
| 7 | Francisco Ventoso | Saunier Duval–Prodir | 99 |
| 8 | Andrey Kashechkin | Astana | 95 |
| 9 | Carlos Sastre | Team CSC | 93 |
| 10 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | Saunier Duval–Prodir | 68 |

### Mountains classification

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 | Discovery Channel | 129 |
| 2 | Pietro Caucchioli | Crédit Agricole | 117 |
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 98 |
| 4 | Andrey Kashechkin | Astana | 84 |
| 5 | Alexander Vinokourov | Astana | 82 |
| 6 | José Miguel Elías | Relax–GAM | 70 |
| 7 | Igor Antón | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 67 |
| 8 | Carlos Sastre | Team CSC | 63 |
| 9 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | Saunier Duval–Prodir | 60 |
| 10 | David Arroyo | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 58 |

### Combination classification

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 | Astana | 8 |
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 8 |
| 3 | Andrey Kashechkin | Astana | 15 |
| 4 | Carlos Sastre | Team CSC | 21 |
| 5 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | Saunier Duval–Prodir | 24 |
| 6 | Samuel Sánchez | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 25 |
| 7 | Tom Danielson | Discovery Channel | 28 |
| 8 | Egoi Martínez | Discovery Channel | 31 |
| 9 | Igor Antón | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 39 |
| 10 | Manuel Beltrán | Discovery Channel | 43 |

### Teams classification

| Rank | Team | Time |
| 1 | Discovery Channel | 201h 59' 16" |
| 2 | Astana | 15' 25" |
| 3 | Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears | 25' 33" |
| 4 | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 32' 13" |
| 5 | Team CSC | 52' 56" |
| 6 | Saunier Duval–Prodir | 1h 40' 02" |
| 7 | Lampre–Fondital | 1h 43' 20" |
| 8 | AG2R Prévoyance | 2h 02' 55" |
| 9 | Relax–GAM | 2h 16' 26" |
| 10 | Cofidis | 2h 20' 33" |