Everything you need to know about the route of the season’s final Grand Tour.
We are cruising through August and that hint of desperation to squeeze a few more big results out of the season has started to set in for the pro peloton, which can only mean that the final Grand Tour of the year is almost upon us. The Vuelta a España gets underway on Saturday.
As usual, plenty of big names will be in attendance when the Vuelta peloton rolls out from Turin for four days of Italian starts before heading over to Spain. The rest of the race will take place entirely in the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula.
Jonas Vingegaard headlines a list of GC hopefuls that will hope to succeed last year’s winner Primož Roglič and take the final red leader’s jersey in Madrid. To do it, they must tackle a litany of climbing challenges over three weeks of racing that will be grueling even by the standards of the always-demanding Vuelta.
The iconic Alto de l’Angliru features on this year’s route and yet that might not be the hardest day of the race. An early team time trial and a mid-race individual time trial won’t keep this from being a race for the mountain goats.
We’ll take a closer look at the big names likely to feature in the Vuelta later this week. For now, here is everything you need to know about the 21 stages of this year’s Vuelta a España.
As a note, our “stage type” assessments do not always agree with those given by the Vuelta organizers. For example, the roadbook classifies stage 2 as “flat” but with an “uphill finale.” We think it’s more useful to you simply to say that it’s a hilly stage. For those insights and more, read on!
How to Watch
🇺🇸 Peacock, 🇬🇧 TNT Sports, 🇪🇺 Eurosport, 🇨🇦 FloBikes, 🇦🇺 SBS On Demand
Coverage times will vary but stages generally start somewhere between 06:00-08:00 EDT / 11:00-13:00 UK / 12:00-2:00 CET / 20:00-22:00 AEST.
Play our Vuelta fantasy game!The Vuelta fantasy game is here! Fantasy competitions can be complicated, but playing this one couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is select one rider per stage to lead your team. The twist? You can only choose a rider once! To make the competition even more fun you have the ability to challenge your friends with a mini-league.
To play simply head here. Alternatively, download the app from either the App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android), and you’re all set.
Stage 1: Torino-Reggia di Venaria to Novara – 186.1 km
Date: Saturday, August 23, 2025
Stage type: Flat
Summary: Straightforward sprint stages are a rarity at the Vuelta a España, but this year’s race opens with one in Italy. The lone categorized climb on the profile is early in the stage and will not put the sprinters into too much difficulty, so we should be in for a bunch kick in Novara.
Stage 2: Alba to Limone Piemonte – 159.6 km
Date: Sunday, August 24, 2025
Stage type: Hilly
Summary: Now that’s more like it for the Vuelta: a summit finish on the second day of the race. The Puerto Limone climb is not especially hard, but the official metrics don’t tell the full tale either. The categorized portion is 7.6 km of 5.4%, but riders will be going uphill for the final 17.5 km, albeit at an average of only about 2% over that stretch.
It will be interesting to see how the top teams decide to play things. If they set a hard tempo for the finale, even the relatively gentle gradients could prove difficult for anyone hoping to ease into the race. In any case, the final ascent is likely to see at least some gaps which will spice up the GC battle early on.
This post is for paying subscribers only
Subscribe now
Already have an account? Sign in
Did we do a good job with this story?
👍Yep
👎Nope