2004 Vuelta a España

The 59th edition of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 4 September to 26 September 2004. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 2,925 km (1,818 mi), and was won by Roberto Heras of the Liberty Seguros cycling team.

2004 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	4–26 September
Stages	21
Distance	2,925 km (1,818 mi)
Winning time	77h 42' 46"
Results
Winner  Roberto Heras (ESP) (Liberty Seguros)   Second  Santiago Pérez (ESP) (Phonak)   Third  Francisco Mancebo (ESP) (Illes Balears–Banesto) Points  Erik Zabel (GER) (T-Mobile Team) Mountains  Félix Cárdenas (COL) (Orbitel) Combination  Roberto Heras (ESP) (Liberty Seguros)   Team Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme

Halfway through the 2004 Vuelta, it appeared it would become an easy win for Heras, but in the last week his fellow countryman Santiago Pérez won two heavy mountain stages, thus becoming an important rival. Eventually Heras won with only 30 seconds advantage on Pérez. Pérez and Phonak hearing systems teammate Tyler Hamilton would later test positive for blood doping from blood samples taken during the race.[1] Francisco Mancebo, also from Spain took third. The first non-Spaniard was Stefano Garzelli from Italy in 11th. The points classification was won by Erik Zabel from Germany, the mountains classification was won by Félix Cárdenas from Colombia and the combination classification was won by Roberto Heras. Kelme was the winner of the team ranking. Alessandro Petacchi, an Italian sprinter won four stages, but he did not finish the Vuelta.