British riders in the Vuelta a Espana
Britain’s history and success in the Vuelta lie somewhere between the obsession with the Tour de France and the indifference to the Giro d’Italia. The first Brits took part in the 1955 Vuelta as part of a British national team. None of them finished that Vuelta and most didn’t return. The next year things changed. 3 riders helped boost the numbers of the Swiss Mixed team and Brian Robinson finished 8th Overall.
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ToggleThe 1960s continued that relative success with stage wins by Barry Hoban and Tom Simpson. Michael Wright even managed to wear the leader’s red jersey for a few days too. After the 60s came the 1970s and early 80s in which no British rider took part in the Vuelta between 1971 and 1983.
The latter part of the 1980s saw Robert Millar come within 36 seconds of winning the 1985 Vuelta. Now referred to as the ‘Stolen Vuelta’ (probably not by Spanish speakers), Spanish riders in the peloton ganged up on Millar and denied him and Britain their first Grand Tour victory. Malcolm Elliott took a surprise Points Jersey victory in 1989.
The 1990s were once again quiet, the 2000s were little better except for the unrelated David Millar winning stages and spending time in the red jersey. Then just like the rest of cycling, the British invasion took place in the 2010s. Mark Cavendish kicked things off by winning a Points Jersey in 2010. Chris Froome took the first Overall win in 2011 (although had to wait until 2019 to be awarded it), he took his 2nd win in 2017 and Simon Yates won in 2018 too.
Similar posts about Brits in the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
1950s
Ken Mitchell (1955)
Best finish: DNF, 1955
Ian Brown (1955)
Best finish: DNF, 1955
John Pottier (1955)
Best finish: DNF, 1955
Leslie Scales (1955)
Best finish: DNF, 1955
Ian Steel (1955-56)
Best finish: DNF, 1955 & 1956
Anthony Hoar (1956)
Best finish: DNF, 1956
Brian Robinson (1956)
Best finish: 8th, 1956
1960s
Barry Hoban (1964-65)
Best finish: 29th, 1966
Stage Wins: 2
Tom Simpson (1967)
Best finish: 33rd, 1966
Stage Wins: 2
Michael Wright (1968-1970)
Best finish: 5th, 1969
Days in Red: 3
1970s
William Bilsland (1970)
Best finish: DNF, 1970
1980s
David Akam (1984)
Best finish: DNF, 1984
Robert Millar (1985-86, 1988, 1992-94)
Best finish: 2nd, 1985 & 1986
Days in Pink: 13
Stage Wins: 1
Sean Yates (1985, 1988)
Best finish: 71st, 1985
Stage Wins: 1
Deno Davie (1988-89)
Best finish: 100th, 1988
Malcolm Elliott (1988-92)
Best finish: 51st, 1991
Stage Wins: 3
Max Sciandri (1989, 1991, 1996)
Best finish: DNF, 1989 & 1991 & 1996
In 1989 & 1991 Max Sciandri raced as Italian
1990s
David Rayner (1991)
Best finish: 57th, 1991
Nigel Perry (1993)
Best finish: DNF, 1993
Harry Lodge (1994)
Best finish: DNF, 1994
Chris Boardman (1997-98)
Best finish: DNF, 1997 & 1998
2000s
David Millar (2001-03, 2006, 2009-10, 2014)
Best finish: 41st, 2001
Days in Red: 3
Stage Wins: 5
Charly Wegelius (2002, 2005-06, 2009)
Best finish: 61st, 2009
Jeremy Hunt (2002, 2008)
Best finish: 107th, 2008
Roger Hammond (2009)
Best finish: 97th, 2009
2010s
Mark Cavendish (2010-11)
Best finish: 144th, 2010
Overall Points Jersey: 2010
Days in Red: 2
Stage Wins: 4
Ben Swift (2010, 2012)
Best finish: 121st, 2012
Ian Stannard (2010-12, 2017, 2019)
Best finish: 106th, 2019
Pete Kennaugh (2010, 2014, 2016)
Best finish: 42nd, 2016
Days in Red: 1
Sir Bradley Wiggins (2011-12)
Best finish: 2nd, 2011
Days in Red: 4
Chris Froome (2011-12, 2014-17, 2020)
Best finish: 1st, 2011 & 2017
Overall Red Jersey: 2011 & 2017
Overall Points Jersey: 2017
Days in Red: 19
Stage Wins: 6
Steve Cummings (2012, 2015, 2018)
Best finish: 102nd, 2015
Stage Wins: 1
Andrew Fenn (2013)
Best finish: DNF, 2013
Luke Rowe (2013-14)
Best finish: 141st, 2013
Adam Yates (2014, 2017-18, 2021)
Best finish: 4th, 2021
Geraint Thomas (2015)
Best finish: 69th, 2015
Scott Thwaites (2016, 2021)
Best finish: 116th, 2016
Simon Yates (2016-18)
Best finish: 1st, 2018
Days in Red 10
Stage Wins: 2
Hugh Carthy (2016, 2019-21)
Best finish: 3rd, 2020
Adam Blythe (2017)
Best finish: 155th, 2017
Mark Christian (2017)
Best finish: 138th, 2017
Tao Geoghegan Hart (2018-19)
Best finish: 20th, 2019
Owain Doull (2019)
Best finish: 71st, 2019
James Knox (2019, 2021)
Best finish: 11th, 2019
Mark Donovan (2020)
Best finish: 48th, 2020
Scott Davies (2020)
Best finish: 111th, 2020
Fred Wright (2020)
Best finish: 91st, 2020
Stephen Williams (2020)
Best finish: DNF, 2020
Harry Tanfield (2020)
Best finish: DNF, 2020
Simon Carr (2021)
Best finish: DNF, 2021
Tom Pidcock (2021)
Best finish: 67th, 2021
Matthew Holmes (2021)
Best finish: DNF, 2021