The Vuelta a España will mark its 75th anniversary next year with a red leader’s jersey instead of the current gold, the events organisers have announced. Unlike the other Grand Tours of France and Italy, the Spanish tour has changed the colour of its leaders jersey several times over the years. The jersey was orange for the first edition of the race in 1935 and became white, red, white and red, and orange again before turning yellow in 1955. In 1998 the jersey turned to gold, where it has remained ever since.
“In 2010, the Vuelta will have been in existence for 75 years and a date as symbolic as that requires a framework consistent with the history and tradition of the best race in Spain and one of the best in the world,” race director Javier Guillen told a press conference.
The 2010 race will start in the southwestern city of Seville with a time-trial along the banks of the River Guadalquivir.