Viva la Vuelta! Third Edition, by Lucy Fallon and Adrian Bell
Published by Mousehold Press in 2018
(Note: I have not read the previous editions of this book, and so cannot make any comments on any additions, deletions, or other changes the authors may have made from previous editions, beyond noting that the previous—second—edition only covered the race up through the 2013 running, whereas this edition covers the race through the 2018 running.)
At first glance, this hefty volume (449 pages including apparatus such as the Foreword by Sean Kelly, the tables of podium finishers etc., and a bibliography) seems to be much in the tradition of the dual two-volume histories of the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia by Bill and Carol McGann. And it is true that, like those latter titles, Viva la Vuelta! consists in the main of fairly detailed year-by-year descriptions of the Vuelta from its first edition eighty-five years ago through the 2018 edition. The differences, though, are important.
First and foremost, this book spends more time than those of the McGanns on the social and historical contexts of the race. Founded in 1935, the first few decades of the Vuelta corresponded with the reign of the USA-supported dictator Francisco Franco. Pertinent details of how the race was run under that government are salted in throughout the race descriptions and discussed more fully in the front matter of each chapter. Likewise, the “transition” period after Franco’s death that saw Spain integrating itself into the community of nations, especially the community of European nations, is discussed, followed by just-extensive-enough remarks on how Spain, and the race, was affected politically, socially, and economically, by such events as an attempted coup, the election and downfall of a Socialist government, the terrorist attack of 2004, and the worldwide economic downturn beginning in 2008. There is also a fair amount of content about the separatist movements in various regions and provinces of the country, especially in the Basque region.
One characteristic the book does share with the McGann histories is the sprinkling in of anecdotes—sometimes colorful, sometimes tragic, always interesting—about the various personalities who have animated the Vuelta since its founding. These are mostly about riders, of course, but organizers and team directors have their day as well.
But the meat of the book is the description of the races themselves. Here, the authors have leaned heavily on contemporary newspaper accounts for the earliest editions, though it is obvious that they read widely and watched whatever archival film and television footage is available, and there are frequent quotes from interviews (which may be secondary sources, it’s not entirely clear whether or not Fallon and Bell directly interviewed any of the main players). The writing in these sections is fairly vivid—never approaching the stylistic excesses of some sportswriters, but deploying just enough color and energy to make the race descriptions more exciting than the fairly dry recitation of facts to be found in the (otherwise excellent) McGann books.
There are many larger than life figures here, including Fedrico Bahamontes and Jaques Anquetil among the riders, and of course the story of the modern Vuelta could not be told without reference to the colorful and controversial director Manolo Saiz. To mention these names alone is to barely scratch the surface—suffice it to say that it is a rare Spanish cycling stakeholder indeed who does not appear in these pages.
The book went to press before the exciting 2019 edition of the Vuelta, and also before Chris Froome was retroactively awarded the first of his two general classification wins for the 2011 running of the race, following the Juan José Cobo case. These details will no doubt be included in a future edition, as the writers are not shy of discussing the use of performance enhancing drugs and the fallout from same (one of the chapters is titled “In the Shadow of Operation Puerto”).
If there is anything to say which may be considered negative about this otherwise excellent volume it is largely in the area of editing. There are frequent misspellings and sometimes odd usages. For roughly the first half of the book, for example, riders from Great Britain are referred to as “Britains” instead of “Britons.”
Beyond that, the authors have made the choice to pay comparatively little attention to sprints and to the Green Jersey points competition (in much the manner of the Vuelta itself, at least in recent editions). At one point, they end the discussion of a particular year’s race by, almost casually, tacking on the fact that Alessandro Petacchi had won five stages, none of which they mentioned in their narrative description of that year’s race. The authors are much more forthcoming with details of the King of the Mountains competition. To be fair, this approach may mirror the newspaper accounts they used as sources, as there is more attention paid to the Green Jersey as the book goes on and enters the era where the authors no doubt watched the race themselves.
Overall, though, this is an excellent book and one I’m glad to have read. There are many small details (such as the fact that Mario Cipollini abandoned the race in 1997 to go home and judge the Miss Italia beauty pageant) of which I was previously unaware, and which a casual rundown of the historic results on a website would never provide. There are also introductions to Spanish riders not widely known outside of the Iberian Peninsula who may have achieved great things in other historic circumstances.
Highly recommended.
Published by Mousehold Press in 2018
(Note: I have not read the previous editions of this book, and so cannot make any comments on any additions, deletions, or other changes the authors may have made from previous editions, beyond noting that the previous—second—edition only covered the race up through the 2013 running, whereas this edition covers the race through the 2018 running.)
At first glance, this hefty volume (449 pages including apparatus such as the Foreword by Sean Kelly, the tables of podium finishers etc., and a bibliography) seems to be much in the tradition of the dual two-volume histories of the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia by Bill and Carol McGann. And it is true that, like those latter titles, Viva la Vuelta! consists in the main of fairly detailed year-by-year descriptions of the Vuelta from its first edition eighty-five years ago through the 2018 edition. The differences, though, are important.
First and foremost, this book spends more time than those of the McGanns on the social and historical contexts of the race. Founded in 1935, the first few decades of the Vuelta corresponded with the reign of the USA-supported dictator Francisco Franco. Pertinent details of how the race was run under that government are salted in throughout the race descriptions and discussed more fully in the front matter of each chapter. Likewise, the “transition” period after Franco’s death that saw Spain integrating itself into the community of nations, especially the community of European nations, is discussed, followed by just-extensive-enough remarks on how Spain, and the race, was affected politically, socially, and economically, by such events as an attempted coup, the election and downfall of a Socialist government, the terrorist attack of 2004, and the worldwide economic downturn beginning in 2008. There is also a fair amount of content about the separatist movements in various regions and provinces of the country, especially in the Basque region.
One characteristic the book does share with the McGann histories is the sprinkling in of anecdotes—sometimes colorful, sometimes tragic, always interesting—about the various personalities who have animated the Vuelta since its founding. These are mostly about riders, of course, but organizers and team directors have their day as well.
But the meat of the book is the description of the races themselves. Here, the authors have leaned heavily on contemporary newspaper accounts for the earliest editions, though it is obvious that they read widely and watched whatever archival film and television footage is available, and there are frequent quotes from interviews (which may be secondary sources, it’s not entirely clear whether or not Fallon and Bell directly interviewed any of the main players). The writing in these sections is fairly vivid—never approaching the stylistic excesses of some sportswriters, but deploying just enough color and energy to make the race descriptions more exciting than the fairly dry recitation of facts to be found in the (otherwise excellent) McGann books.
There are many larger than life figures here, including Fedrico Bahamontes and Jaques Anquetil among the riders, and of course the story of the modern Vuelta could not be told without reference to the colorful and controversial director Manolo Saiz. To mention these names alone is to barely scratch the surface—suffice it to say that it is a rare Spanish cycling stakeholder indeed who does not appear in these pages.
The book went to press before the exciting 2019 edition of the Vuelta, and also before Chris Froome was retroactively awarded the first of his two general classification wins for the 2011 running of the race, following the Juan José Cobo case. These details will no doubt be included in a future edition, as the writers are not shy of discussing the use of performance enhancing drugs and the fallout from same (one of the chapters is titled “In the Shadow of Operation Puerto”).
If there is anything to say which may be considered negative about this otherwise excellent volume it is largely in the area of editing. There are frequent misspellings and sometimes odd usages. For roughly the first half of the book, for example, riders from Great Britain are referred to as “Britains” instead of “Britons.”
Beyond that, the authors have made the choice to pay comparatively little attention to sprints and to the Green Jersey points competition (in much the manner of the Vuelta itself, at least in recent editions). At one point, they end the discussion of a particular year’s race by, almost casually, tacking on the fact that Alessandro Petacchi had won five stages, none of which they mentioned in their narrative description of that year’s race. The authors are much more forthcoming with details of the King of the Mountains competition. To be fair, this approach may mirror the newspaper accounts they used as sources, as there is more attention paid to the Green Jersey as the book goes on and enters the era where the authors no doubt watched the race themselves.
Overall, though, this is an excellent book and one I’m glad to have read. There are many small details (such as the fact that Mario Cipollini abandoned the race in 1997 to go home and judge the Miss Italia beauty pageant) of which I was previously unaware, and which a casual rundown of the historic results on a website would never provide. There are also introductions to Spanish riders not widely known outside of the Iberian Peninsula who may have achieved great things in other historic circumstances.
Highly recommended.
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