Organizers the Vuelta a España announced the route for the 81st edition in Monaco today.
The Spanish Grand Tour will start with a time trial in Monaco and finish in Granada, which will feature four medium-mountain stages and six mountain stages with a total elevation gain of 58,156 meters.
The race will set off on the Iberian Peninsula, with a finish suitable for sprinters and punchy riders in Manosque and a more challenging uphill finish in Font-Romeu. The entry into the Pyrenees heralds a concentration of mountains in the other principality, Andorra, which is on the map of La Vuelta for the 25th time (since 1965) and will offer a sequence of Port d’Envalira, Beixalis, Coll d’Ordino and Alto de la Comella over only 104 kilometers, entirely on its territory.
This allows route architect Fernando Escartin to paint the overall picture and warn the riders: “It’s a very tough route! The mountains will play a starring role in one of the most difficult editions in the history of La Vuelta. Andorra will set the tone at the start of the race with a short but very tough stage, before tackling climbs such as Valdelinares, Aitana, Calar Alto, La Pandera, Penas Blancas and the unprecedented Collado del Alguacil on a final day of mountain racing that promises to be extremely tough. There will also be several medium mountain stages that are sure to provide us with a great spectacle.”
For the most part, these are returns to familiar uphill finishes. Valdelinares has not hosted La Vuelta since a Colombian fiesta in 2014, when Winner Anacona claimed the stage victory and Nairo Quintana became the new race leader. The last rider to be crowned at Alto de Aitana was France’s Pierre Latour in 2016. His successor will have to make the most of more than 5,000 meters of elevation gain. Whoever wins at Calar Alto will have previously climbed Alto de Velefique, like Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez, who came first at the observatory in the province of Almeria in 2017. The Sierra de la Pandera is fresher in the memory with the success of Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz in 2022. He was also the first to arrive at Penas Blancas that same year.
Two new challenges await the peloton: a 3.5 km stretch of gravelled road leading to Puerto El Bartolo, located 16 km from the finish line of stage 6 in Castellón, and the Collado del Alguacil, the final hill and by no means the least, as its 8 km feature particularly steep sections with gradients of up to 20%. The final point of stage 20 is a climb that is new to La Vuelta, putting to an end a day marked in the Sierra Nevada by a double ascent of the Alto de Hazallanas.
While time trial specialists will enjoy a longer stage than in recent years with 32.5 km of fairly flat terrain from Puerto de Santa Maria to Jerez de la Frontera, in addition to the 9 km in Monaco on the first day, the sprinters will have four or five stages to express themselves, sharing the opportunities with the punchy riders, including on the last day, as the finish at the Alhambra of Granada is located atop a climb of about one kilometre on a spectacular circuit to be covered four times. This will round off three weeks of racing in a beautiful setting, a mecca of culture and history.
“Hosting the Grand Départ of La Vuelta 26 in the Principality of Monaco is a source of great pride and a unique opportunity to show the world all the facets of our country: sporting excellence, environmental commitment and international openness,” said H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. “We are honored to offer La Vuelta, the riders, the teams and all cycling enthusiasts a prestigious setting to launch the 2026 edition in the most beautiful way possible.”
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