# 1985 Vuelta a España

The 40th Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from 23 April to 12 May 1985. It consisted of 19 stages covering a total of 3,474 km. The race was won by Pedro Delgado of the Orbea cycling team.

## Pre-race favourites

The Spanish favourites for the general classification of the race were Pedro Delgado, Faustino Rupérez and Pello Ruiz Cabestany and the potential foreign favourites included Robert Millar – now known as Philippa York, Sean Kelly, Éric Caritoux, Peter Winnen and Gianbattista Baronchelli.

## Route

List of stages :
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Type | Winner |
| P | 23 April | Valladolid – Valladolid | 5.6 km (3 mi) | | Individual time trial | Bert Oosterbosch (NED) |
| 1 | 24 April | Valladolid – Zamora | 177 km (110 mi) | | | Eddy Planckaert (BEL) |
| 2 | 25 April | Zamora – Orense | 262 km (163 mi) | | | Sean Kelly (IRL) |
| 3 | 26 April | Ourense – Santiago de Compostela | 197 km (122 mi) | | | Gianbattista Baronchelli (ITA) |
| 4 | 27 April | Santiago de Compostela – Lugo | 162 km (101 mi) | | | Eddy Planckaert (BEL) |
| 5 | 28 April | Lugo – Oviedo | 238 km (148 mi) | | | Federico Echave (ESP) |
| 6 | 29 April | Oviedo – Lakes of Covadonga | 145 km (90 mi) | | | Pedro Delgado (ESP) |
| 7 | 30 April | Cangas de Onís – Alto Campoo | 190 km (118 mi) | | | Antonio Agudelo (COL) |
| 8 | 1 May | Aguilar de Campoo – Logroño | 224 km (139 mi) | | | Ángel Camarillo (ESP) |
| 9 | 2 May | Logroño – Balneario de Panticosa | 253 km (157 mi) | | | Alfons De Wolf (BEL) |
| 10 | 3 May | Sabiñánigo – Tremp | 209 km (130 mi) | | | Sean Kelly (IRL) |
| 11 | 4 May | Tremp – Andorra | 124 km (77 mi) | | | Francisco Rodríguez (COL) |
| 12 | 5 May | Andorra – Pal (Andorra) | 16 km (10 mi) | | Individual time trial | Francisco Rodríguez (COL) |
| 13 | 6 May | Andorra – Sant Quirze del Vallès | 193 km (120 mi) | | | Ángel Sarrapio (ESP) |
| 14 | 7 May | Valencia – Benidorm | 201 km (125 mi) | | | José Recio (ESP) |
| 15 | 8 May | Benidorm – Albacete | 208 km (129 mi) | | | Sean Kelly (IRL) |
| 16 | 9 May | Albacete – Alcalá de Henares | 252 km (157 mi) | | | Isidro Juárez (ESP) |
| 17 | 10 May | Alcalá de Henares – Alcalá de Henares | 43 km (27 mi) | | Individual time trial | Pello Ruiz Cabestany (ESP) |
| 18 | 11 May | Alcalá de Henares – Palazuelos de Eresma (Destilerías DYC) | 200 km (124 mi) | | | José Recio (ESP) |
| 19 | 12 May | Palazuelos de Eresma (Destilerías DYC) – Salamanca | 175 km (109 mi) | | | Vladimir Malakhov (URS) |
| | Total | Total | 3,474 km (2,159 mi) | 3,474 km (2,159 mi) | 3,474 km (2,159 mi) | 3,474 km (2,159 mi) |

## Race overview

In 1985 the Vuelta a España was still held in its April – May slot as the first of the three grand tours of the season. A young Miguel Induráin took the lead on stage 2. Pedro Delgado won stage 6 to the Lagos de Covadonga and took over the race leader's jersey. Delgado lost the lead the following day to Pello Ruiz Cabestany. Robert Millar – now known as Philippa York – then took the lead after the tenth stage, a stage won by Kelly.
Millar held the lead going into what has become one of the most infamous days in the history of the event, the penultimate day of the race, stage 18. Millar started the day 10 seconds ahead of Colombian Francisco 'Pacho' Rodríguez, with Spain's Pello Ruiz Cabestany 65 seconds further behind in third. With the following day's last stage of the race little more than ceremonial, Millar said to the press, "I just have to stick to Pacho Rodríguez's wheel and it's done." A mountainous stage with three major climbs, Rodriguez tried but was unable to make a successful attack on Millar on the first climb of the day, the Morcuera. At the foot of the second climb, the Cotos, Millar punctured meaning once the puncture had been fixed Millar had to chase to get back to Rodrigues and Cabestany. By the time the riders reached the third climb, Los Leones, Millar had not only reached the main GC favorites, but was also taking their congratulations indicating their submission that the race over as a contest.
Millar, however, was unaware that Delgado, in the mountains around his Segovia hometown that he knew like the back of his hand, had launched an attack. None of the riders in Millar's group made him aware of the attack by Delgado – an elite specialist climber like Millar, and in this case with the knowledge of the roads allowing him to descend aggressively. Delgado had support in his break from a second rider, José Recio. Delgado had started the day in sixth place and 6 minutes behind Millar. Working with Recio, Delgado was now nearly 7 minutes ahead of Millar on the road. Millar had none of his teammates in this group with the other contenders and was isolated. Recio won the stage and Delgado took overall lead of the race. With the race now referred to as "The stolen Vuelta", because of the collusion among the Spanish-speaking riders, Millar finished second overall. Peugeot directeur sportif, Roland Berland, said, "It's rotten, the whole peloton was against us. It seems a Spaniard had to win at all costs." L'Équipe's Philip Bouvet stated, Millar was "the victim of a formidable Spanish coalition". Millar said afterwards, "I'll never return to Spain." In the television documentary on York, "The High Life", Millar criticised Berland for his handling of the situation on the road when Delgado attacked. Berland had been unable to negotiate support from other non-Spanish-speaking teams during the stage to give Millar the required support to chase down Delgado's lead.
In 1985 and 1986, a national team of the communist Soviet Union participated in the Vuelta. At the time, it was unusual for Soviet riders to participate in professional races.
1985 also saw the Vuelta participation of a U.S. professional team for the first time; the team was sponsored by Rank-Xerox and managed by Robin Morton, the first woman to manage a men's professional cycling team.

## General classification (final)

| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Pedro Delgado | Orbea | 95h 58' 00" |
| 2 | Robert Millar | Peugeot–Shell–Michelin | + 36" |
| 3 | Francisco Rodríguez | Zor | + 46" |
| 4 | Pello Ruiz Cabestany | Orbea | + 1' 51" |
| 5 | Fabio Parra | Café de Colombia | + 3' 40" |
| 6 | Éric Caritoux | Skil–Sem–Reydel | + 6' 08" |
| 7 | Raimund Dietzen | Teka | + 6' 36" |
| 8 | Álvaro Pino | Zor | + 7' 41" |
| 9 | Sean Kelly | Skil–Sem–Reydel | + 7' 52" |
| 10 | José Luis Navarro | Zor | + 8' 56" |
| 11 | Julián Gorospe | Reynolds | |
| 12 | Celestino Prieto Rodriguez | Reynolds | |
| 13 | Gerard Veldscholten | Panasonic | |
| 14 | Pascal Simon | Peugeot–Shell–Michelin | |
| 15 | Pierre Bazzo | Fagor | |
| 16 | Juan Tomás Martínez Gutierrez | Hueso–Motta | |
| 17 | Antonio Coll Pontanilla | Teka | |
| 18 | Vicente Belda | Kelme–Merckx | |
| 19 | Faustino Rupérez Rincón | Zor | |
| 20 | Ivan Ivanov | Soviet National Team | |
| 21 | Ignacio Gaston Crespo | Reynolds | |
| 22 | Ángel de las Heras | Hueso–Motta | |
| 23 | Martín Ramírez | Café de Colombia | |
| 24 | Dominique Garde | Skil–Sem–Reydel | |
| 25 | Gilles Mas | Skil–Sem–Reydel | |