 It was a bittersweet victory as he was not actually the victor riding into Madrid.For the 1983 Vuelta a España he would be up against Bernard Hinault, who had his teammates Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond, as well as other strong riders including Hennie Kuiper and the Spanish riders of Pino, Alberto Fernández and a young Pedro Delgado who was riding in his second Vuelta.The leaders Jersey changed hands numerous times and Lejarreta held it early while also winning a mountain time trial, but suffered a crash and lost it.