La Vuelta turns 90 years old and does not forget the path traveled since that first edition held in 1935. The race once again starts from outside Spanish territory, a custom in recent times, a look to the future. But to present it, the race relies on the classics, those that have made it great, in addition to Pedro Delgadowho as usual served as presenter. Alberto Contador, Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana They stand out among the most recent; Olano, Zülle and Jalabert, the men who dominated the transition between two centuries; and beyond, Álvaro Pino, Marino Lejarreta or Agustín Tamames. And, of course, Roberto Heras, the cyclist with the most victories in the Vuelta along with Primoz Roglicwho will not defend his victory.
The Vuelta is born in Piedmontin northern Italy, and does not reach Spain until the fifth stage. After three days through Italian territory, it passes through France, a stage, and arrives in Spain by Figueras. A 20 kilometer time trial With departure and arrival in the same city, it serves to make the transit. UCI regulations do not allow adding one more day of rest, an exception that is contemplated every four years and the Vuelta already consumed it in 2022 when it left Utrecht.
The race does not lose its essence and looks upward again. The second stage already has a high finish, in a second-class port. Then there are nine more to which are added the stages that do not end at the top, but make the cyclists cross several mountain passes and some ramp finishes, part of the personality of the race.
You don’t have to wait long to find real high finishes. In the sixth stage the Vuelta reaches Andorra in a stage ending in Pal. A day that has a replica on the following day, which ends in Cerler. And after a predictably quiet stage on the way to Zaragoza, the peloton will encounter the climb to Valdezcaray to finish.
There are traps for cyclists. There is no respite after the two days of rest. The first comes after the climb to Valdezcaray, a false peace before climbing Larra Belagua. A climb that debuted a couple of years ago with Evenepoel’s victory in that Vuelta in which he became an adventurer out of obligation.
And after the second day of rest comes a stage ending in Mos that can become an important battle if the cyclists have the desire and strength.
Last year it was the Covadonga Lakes; This year it is the Somiedo Lakes that he visits in Asturias and the Angliru instead of the Cuitu Negru in which Castrillo shone.
La Vuelta mixes tradition with the latest. To finish, take a walk through the center of Madrid. And before arriving, the stage through the mountains of Madrid ending in the World Balla summit released in 2010 when Vincenzo Nibali won his first major.
So that not everything is uphill, the Vuelta proposes two individual time trials that will serve to organize the race: the one in Figueras and another in Valladolid in the last week, which total 46 kilometers. The race begins with an online stage on August 23 and ends September 14 in the Plaza de Cibeles.
