1982 Vuelta a España


The 37th Vuelta a España, a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 20 April to 9 May 1982. It consisted of 19 stages covering a total of, and was won by Marino Lejarreta of the Teka cycling team.
The Reynolds team controlled the race after team leader Ángel Arroyo 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 Marino Lejarreta and Michel Pollentier. 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 and Pedro Muñoz.
The four riders were said to have tested positive for Methylphenidate 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

RankRiderTeamTime
1 Marino LejarretaTeka 95h 47' 23"
2 Michel PollentierSafir-Concorde + 18"
3 Sven-Åke NilssonWolber-Spidel + 1' 17"
4 Faustino Ruperez RinconZor-Helios + 2' 14"
5 José Luis LaguíaReynolds-Galli + 2' 37"
6 Pierre-Raymond VillemianeWolber-Spidel + 2' 43"
7 Stefan MutterPuch-Eurotex + 4' 18"
8 Jaime Vilamajo IpiensKelme-Merckx + 4' 19s
9 Marc DurantWolber-Spidel + 5' 10"
10 Álvaro PinoZor-Helios + 5' 53"
11 Enrique Martinez HerediaKelme-Merckx
12 Celestino Prieto RodriquezKelme-Merckx
13 Ángel ArroyoReynolds-Galli
14 Eduardo ChozasZor-Helios
15 Alberto FernandezTeka
16 Paul WellensSplendor-Wickes
17 Bernardo Alfonsel LopezTeka
18 Vicente BeldaKelme-Merckx
19 Ismal LejarretaTeka
20 Juan FernandezKelme-Merckx
21 Jo MaasSplendor-Wickes
22 Dominique ArnaudWolber-Spidel
23 Luis-Vicente OtinHueso
24 Benny Van BrabantSplendor-Wickes
25 Pedro Munoz RodriguezZor-Helios