2006 Vuelta a España
The 2006 Vuelta a España was held from 26 August to 17 September 2006, and was the 61st edition of the race. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of, and was won by Alexander Vinokourov of the cycling team. The points classification was won by Thor Hushovd of, and the mountains classification by Egoi Martínez of.
Teams and riders
In addition to the 20 UCI ProTour teams, Relax-GAM have received a wild card.List of stages
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner |
| 1 | 26 Aug | Málaga - Málaga | 7.2 km | Team time trial | |
| 2 | 27 Aug | Málaga - Córdoba | 167 km | Paolo Bettini | |
| 3 | 28 Aug | Córdoba - Almendralejo | 220 km | Francisco Ventoso | |
| 4 | 29 Aug | Almendralejo - Cáceres | 142 km | Erik Zabel | |
| 5 | 30 Aug | Plasencia - Estación de Esquí La Covatilla | 178 km | Mountain stage* | Danilo Di Luca |
| 6 | 31 Aug | Zamora - León | 155 km | Thor Hushovd | |
| 7 | 1 Sept | León - Alto de El Morredero | 148 km | Mountain stage* | Alejandro Valverde |
| 8 | 2 Sept | Ponferrada - Lugo | 173 km | Alexander Vinokourov | |
| 9 | 3 Sept | A Fonsagrada - Alto de La Cobertoria | 206 km | Mountain stage* | Alexander Vinokourov |
| 4 Sept | Rest Day | - | |||
| 10 | 5 Sept | Avilés - Museo de Altamira | 190 km | Sérgio Paulinho | |
| 11 | 6 Sept | Torrelavega - Burgos | 165 km | Mountain stage | Egoi Martínez |
| 12 | 7 Sept | Aranda de Duero - Guadalajara | 162 km | Luca Paolini | |
| 13 | 8 Sept | Guadalajara - Cuenca | 170 km | Samuel Sánchez | |
| 14 | 9 Sept | Cuenca - Cuenca | 33 km | Individual time trial | David Millar |
| 15 | 10 Sept | Motilla del Palancar - Factoría Ford | 175 km | Robert Förster | |
| 11 Sept | Rest Day | - | |||
| 16 | 12 Sept | Almería - Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto | 145 km | Mountain stage* | Igor Antón |
| 17 | 13 Sept | Adra - Granada | 167 km | Mountain stage | Thomas Danielson |
| 18 | 14 Sept | Granada - Sierra de la Pandera | 153 km | Mountain stage* | Andrey Kashechkin |
| 19 | 15 Sept | Jaén - Ciudad Real | 195 km | José Luis Arrieta | |
| 20 | 16 Sept | Rivas Futura - Rivas Vaciamadrid | 28 km | Individual time trial | Alexander Vinokourov |
| 21 | 17 Sept | Madrid - Madrid | 150 km | Erik Zabel |
- Mountain stages with asterisk end on the top of the climb.
Stage recaps
- Vuelta a España 2006, Stage 1 to Stage 11
- Vuelta a España 2006, Stage 12 to Stage 21
Jersey progress
| Stage | General classification | Points Classification | Mountains Classification | Combination Classification | Team Classification |
| Stage 1 | Carlos Sastre | Carlos Sastre | no award | no award | |
| Stage 2 | Thor Hushovd | Paolo Bettini | Mario De Sárraga | Mario De Sárraga | |
| Stage 3 | Thor Hushovd | Thor Hushovd | Mario De Sárraga | David de la Fuente | |
| Stage 4 | Thor Hushovd | Thor Hushovd | Mario De Sárraga | David de la Fuente | |
| Stage 5 | Danilo Di Luca | Thor Hushovd | Danilo Di Luca | Danilo Di Luca | |
| Stage 6 | Danilo Di Luca | Thor Hushovd | Danilo Di Luca | Danilo Di Luca | |
| Stage 7 | Janez Brajkovič | Thor Hushovd | Janez Brajkovič | Janez Brajkovič | |
| Stage 8 | Janez Brajkovič | Thor Hushovd | Janez Brajkovič | Janez Brajkovič | |
| Stage 9 | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 10 | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 11 | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 12 | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 13 | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 14 | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 15 | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 16 | Alejandro Valverde | Thor Hushovd | Pietro Caucchioli | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 17 | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 18 | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alejandro Valverde | |
| Stage 19 | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alexander Vinokourov | |
| Stage 20 | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alexander Vinokourov | |
| Stage 21 | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alexander Vinokourov | |
| Final | Alexander Vinokourov | Thor Hushovd | Egoi Martínez | Alexander Vinokourov |
Jersey wearers when same rider is holding multiple jerseys:
- Lars Bak wore the points jersey in stage 2
- Paolo Bettini wore the points jersey in stages 4–5
- Janez Brajkovič wore the white combination jersey in stages 6–7
- José Miguel Elías wore the orange mountains jersey in stages 6–7
- Danilo Di Luca wore the orange mountains jersey in stages 8–9
- Alejandro Valverde wore the white combination jersey in stages 8–9
- Carlos Sastre wore the white combination jersey in stages 8–16
- Alexander Vinokourov wore the white combination jersey in stage 17
- Andrey Kashechkin wore the white combination jersey in stage 19-21
- When he has been 2nd in combination classification behind GC leader, Alejandro Valverde has worn white jersey of UCI ProTour leader. This happened on stages 8, 9, 19, 20 and 21.
Current standings
General classification (final)
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 |  Alexander Vinokourov | '''81h 23' 07" | |
| 2 |  Alejandro Valverde | 1' 12" | |
| 3 | Andrey Kashechkin | 3' 12" | |
| 4 | Carlos Sastre | 3' 35" | |
| 5 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | 6' 51" | |
| 6 |  | ||
| 7 | Samuel Sánchez | 8' 26" | |
| 8 | Manuel Beltrán | 10' 36" | |
| 9 |  Vladimir Karpets | 10' 47" | |
| 10 | Luis Pérez Rodríguez | 11' 32" |
Points classification
In 2006, the leader of the points classification is awarded a blue with yellow-fish-covered jersey, which is sponsored by Spain's fishing and marine industry known as FROM.| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
| 1 |  Thor Hushovd | 199 | |
| 2 | Alexander Vinokourov | 163 | |
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde | 147 | |
| 4 | Samuel Sánchez | 107 | |
| 5 |  Erik Zabel | 104 | |
| 6 |  Stuart O'Grady | 104 | |
| 7 | Francisco Ventoso | 99 | |
| 8 | Andrey Kashechkin | 95 | |
| 9 | Carlos Sastre | 93 | |
| 10 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | 68 |
Mountains classification
In 2006, the leader of the climbers classification wears the orange jersey sponsored by Ford. In recent years, the KoM wore a red jersey.| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
| 1 | Egoi Martínez | 129 | |
| 2 |  Pietro Caucchioli | 117 | |
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde | 98 | |
| 4 | Andrey Kashechkin | 84 | |
| 5 | Alexander Vinokourov | 82 | |
| 6 | José Miguel Elías | Relax-Gam | 70 |
| 7 | Igor Antón | 67 | |
| 8 | Carlos Sastre | 63 | |
| 9 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | 60 | |
| 10 | David Arroyo | 58 |
Combination classification
In 2006, the leader of the combinations classification wears the white jersey. In 2005, the rider with the lowest cumulative rank of all classifications wore a gold-green jersey.| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
| 1 | Alexander Vinokourov | 8 | |
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde | 8 | |
| 3 | Andrey Kashechkin | 15 | |
| 4 | Carlos Sastre | 21 | |
| 5 | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | 24 | |
| 6 | Samuel Sánchez | 25 | |
| 7 | Tom Danielson | 28 | |
| 8 | Egoi Martínez | 31 | |
| 9 | Igor Antón | 39 | |
| 10 | Manuel Beltrán | 43 |