It consisted of 22 stages covering a total of 3,921 km, and was won by Luis Herrera of the Café de Colombia cycling team.

[1] With the 1986 Vuelta Champion, Álvaro Pino was absent due to health problems, the principal favourites for the overall classification were Laurent Fignon, Pedro Delgado and Sean Kelly.

Kelly who was in form after winning Paris–Nice for the sixth time won the first stage and took the jersey.

Luis Herrera in the company of Ángel Arroyo and Vicente Belda attacked several times on the final ascent of the stage.

However Kelly was forced to withdraw from the race the following day due to a saddle boil.