VUELTA: A BOAT RACE?

Having spent a week in Spain this past May trying to dig up details of the Vuelta, I could see why the event is No. 3 on the Grand Tour circuit. In a nutshell, no one seems to know anything about it.

I was in Galicia in northwest Spain, where the opening stages of this year’s race will be contested. My travels took me to Pontevedra, a tourist town that has been visited by the Vuelta on several occasions dating back to 1965. It was rumoured for a while to be the Grand Depart in 2013, but now will settle for the launch of Stage 2, with nearby Vilanova de Arousa getting dibs on the first stage.

I figured if anyone would have details, it would be Pontevedra’s several tourist offices. After all, hosting a Grand Tour event has to be a great sell for any community. While the people working there were very friendly, they were somewhat baffled at my request.

At the first venue, they thought the Vuelta was a “boat race.” I tried to explain it was Spain’s biggest bike race. Frankly, they seemed a little surprised that their town was even on the Vuelta map.

One fellow suggested I go to city hall for more information, but I was met there by a scowling man in uniform who wanted nothing to do with me. I was led to believe the stage will start in the vicinity of an impressive statue dedicated to “Los Heroes de Ponte Sampaio.” That is a reference to a decisive 1809 battle during the Spanish War of Independence against the French.

I shouldn’t be too harsh on Pontevedra, though. It was where Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, was built, and why I’m now here to write this, I guess.