List of teams and cyclists in the 2012 Vuelta a España
The 2012 Vuelta a España was the 67th edition of the Vuelta a España, one of the cycling's Grand Tours. The Vuelta a España features 198 riders competing from 22 cycling teams; the race took place from 18 August to 9 September, starting in Pamplona and finishing in Madrid.
2012 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11
It was not until the final team to start the stage that the time – and the 19-minute barrier – was beaten. had the honour of starting last due to Juan José Cobo – the winner of the 2011 edition of the race for – being amongst their nine riders. The team were only two seconds slower than to the intermediate time-check, kept their pace up and recorded a time of 18' 51" for the course, to record the first Grand Tour team time trial victory for a Spanish squad in nine years. As the first rider to cross the line, Jonathan Castroviejo assumed the first red jersey of the race for the general classification leader, with four of his team-mates in the same time and Cobo in sixth place, having been distanced, by four seconds, in the closing metres.The opening road stage of the 2012 Vuelta saw the riders head south from Pamplona, via a loop around Tafalla – where the race's first intermediate sprint point was held – and the first categorised climb, the third-category Alto de la Chapela, before heading towards Viana. In Viana itself, there was an intermediate sprint point on the first passage through the town, before the finish second time around. With most of the parcours being flat, it was expected to ultimately result in a sprint finish at the stage end. Three riders – Spanish pairing Javier Aramendia of and rider Javier Chacón, along with Mikhail Ignatiev () – went clear around after the start of the stage, making the early breakaway from the field, and the trio managed to extend their advantage over the main field to around five minutes. Niki Terpstra had also been a part of the breakaway at one point, but as he trailed overnight leader Jonathan Castroviejo of the by just ten seconds, the breakaway were not allowed to gain a substantial advantage at that point. Terpstra ultimately dropped back into the main field to allow the gap to increase.