The Vuelta a España - the Tour of Spain - is an annual three-week road bicycle racing stage race and along with the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia one of the three big bicyle races (Grand Tours) in Europe. The race consists of at least 21 stages, 3,000+km and usually 20 teams.
The 2009 Vuelta a España starts on August 29 with the first 3 stages in the Netherlands, followed up by the 4th stage in Belgium, and the other 19 stages in Spain. At the end of the race, on September 20, the cyclists have cycled 3,266.5 km (2,030 miles).
Teams include: Ag2r-La Mondiale, Andalucía-Cajasur, Astana, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Cervélo TestTeam, Caisse d'Epargne, Cofidis, Contentpolis-Ampo, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Française des Jeux, Fuji-Servetto, Garmin-Slipstream, Lampre-N.G.C., Liquigas, Quick Step, Rabobank, Silence-Lotto, Team Columbia-HTC, Team Milram, Team Saxo Bank, Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, Xacobeo-Galicia.
Current champion is Alberto Contador from Spain.
Fabian Cancellara,
Mark Cavendish,
Thomas Voeckler,
Thor Hushovd,
Brice Feillu,
Luis León Sánchez,
Pierrick Fédrigo,
Mark Cavendish,
Nicki Sørensen,
Heinrich Haussler,
Sergei Ivanov,
Alberto Contador,
Mikel Astarloza,
Fränk Schleck,
Juan Manuel Gárate,
Mark Cavendish,
Andy Schleck,
Lance Armstrong,
Bradley Wiggins,
Andreas Klöden,
Vincenzo Nibali,
Christian Vande Velde,
Roman Kreuziger,
Christophe Le Mével