Vuelta a España Vuelta 2025 route rumors

[Devil's Elbow]

what is so bad about Bola del Mundo on stage 20?

Very hard to attack before the super-steep final 3 kilometres, so very little opportunity to roll the dice. If the red jersey has even a minute going into that stage, he is as good as safe.

 

[YavorD]

I have no problem people complaining but at least explain yourselves? Okay so it’s the worst one in recent years - why?

Very few really good stages. A lot of ____/ kind of stages. And while this is typical for the Vuelta, at least most of the time they finish on some ramps that provide action. Next year we've got a lot of overrated C1 MTF's where it's very hard to build a gap so a mountain sprint like Prati di Tivo or Grand Colombier is very possible.
Non of the mountain stages is really good, first 3 5 stages are awful given the possibilities. The best hilly stage os stage 11 which is very similar to stage 1 of last year's Tour. And while this stage was good, I don't think is more than 6 or 7.
Not enough ITT and on top of that literally at the end of the race with only one GC stage afterwards, which on itself is the worst type of a GC stage.
And stage 20 ends on Bola del Mundo. And even though I like Bola del Mundo, hat's probably one of the worst ways to finish a GT. We could probably let them off with this one as usually stage 20 in the Vuelta is great.
I think that's pretty much covers what most of the people think about this route.


And as for "riders make the race" there's usually a reason why (real)Mortirolo-Aprica and Finestre-Sestriere are most of the time great stages and why f.e. Grand Colombier isn't. And that's NOT the riders' mood. A
s important as the riders are stage design is equally or even more important as for example if stage 19 in the Giro 2019 finished on Finestre or didn't have Finestre but only Sestriere before the MTF we wouldn't talk about this stage as all time classic and Tom Dumoulin would have likely won that Giro.
And the Vuelta doesn't have a single one particularly good stage design.

 

[E_F_]

I think MTF sprint soap opera is a bad format for a GT.

 

[KZD]

Pretty poor route but unfortunately that is a common thing in the Vuelta

+ stages 11 and 16 look really good
+ second week is decent and nice to see Farrapona back.

- Its a bad joke that a Vuelta that starts near the Alpes has not a proper mountain stage there
- Bola del Mundo on stage 20 is not a good call
- lack of a 'tappone'
- Stage 5 would have been better as an ITT instead of TTT.

Overall I give it 4/10.

Good chance for Pogačar to win the race and still leave something in the tank for the Worlds and Lombardia.

 

[Forever The Best]

I think someone who has enough time should re-design the route with the same start and finish locations. Maybe I may have a go at it in a few days.

Since I had some time yesterday I re-designed a couple of stages: (Paging @Descender too since he suggested some alternatives)
Stage 1: I'm fine as it is
Stage 2 Alba - Limone Piemonte 159.1 Km

Alba - Limone Piemonte

Vuelta 2025 Stage 2 Redesign - 159.1 km, +2599 m. Bike ride in Alba, Piemonte

ridewithgps.com

Adding Madonna del Colletto(1) and Colletto del Moro(2) before the final climb to at least make it a bit harder.

Stage 3: Since I hardened stage 2, I'm fine with this
Stage 4: I'm torn on this. I have not designed a route but tried some and you can put Granier or Porte but they would be some way from the finish and with an ITT the day after not much will happen anyways. Maybe it can be hardened with some hills around Voiron.

Stage 5 Figueres 37.2 Km ITT

Figueres - Figueres ITT

La Vuelta a Espana 2025 Stage 5 Redesign - 37.2 km, +187 m. Bike ride in Figueres, Cataluña

ridewithgps.com

Making it a ITT. Pan flat.

Stage 6 Olot-Vallnord Sector Pal Andorra 202 Km

Olot - Vallnord Pal Andorra

La Vuelta a Espana 2025 Stage 6 Redesign - 202.0 km, +5072 m. Bike ride in Olot, Cataluña

ridewithgps.com

Adding Coll de la Gallina(ESP) and Comella(2) before the final climb. It's stage 6 so I don't expect any long range attacks but at least with increased fatigue attacks can be more fruitful on final climb.

Stage 7: I'm actually okay with this. As @Descender says here they can do Canto-Bonaigua before Cerler but I'm okay. Plus those climbs were seen a lot a few years ago (and Canto is still in the stage obviously)

Stage 8-9: Stage 8 is not great on a Saturday but not much you can do with the start and finish towns. And about stage 9, Valdezcaray is not well connected with other climbs so I don't have much options really, so that one stays the same too.

Stage 10 Parque de la Naturaleza Sendavia - Larra Belagua El Ferial 258.4 Km

Parque de la Naturaleza Sendavia - Larra Belagua El Ferial

La Vuelta a Espana 2025 Stage 10 Redesign - 258.4 km, +6013 m. Bike ride in Arguedas, Navarra

ridewithgps.com

This needs some special UCI dispensation because it is over the maximum length of 240 km it was I think. (but obviously long stages happened in the past, 2020 Giro stage 19 that was shortened was over 250 km, 2011 Giro had 2 240+ km stages and one of them was the Sestriere stage, 2010 Giro had a 262 km L'Aquila stage, 2009 Giro had 3 240+ km stages including 262 km Pinerolo stage)

Anyways, I'm using Pierre Saint Martin(1) like the stage but instead of finishing at Belagua my route is descending and climbing Port de Larrau(ESP) and Laza(3) (from Larrau intersection) like the 2023 stage before the final climb to Larra-Belagua like that stage (basically Pierre Saint Martin I posted until km 3 I think).

Stage 11-12: Both stay the same. I like a hilly stage like stage 11 after a tough stage 10, and stage 12 is obvious breakaway day with hills on the route and Angliru the day after.
Stage 13: Also stays the same. One can add Cobertoria obviously but two of my 3 versions for stage 14 have Cobertoria.

Stage 14 Aviles - La Farrapona Lagos de Somiedo
Version 1 185.6 Km

Aviles - La Farrapona Lagos de Somiedo

La Vuelta 2025 Stage 14 Redesign Version 1 - 185.6 km, +5725 m. Bike ride in Avilés, Asturias

ridewithgps.com

The conventional San Lorenzo(1/ESP) - Farrapona(1) combo obviously but with Corredoria(1/2) and Maravio(1) (from km 12.5 onwards) before. Also Cabrunana(3) is the climb around km 65 on the profile. (The official profile says San Lorenzo is cat.1 but can also be cat.ESP)

Version 2 166.5 Km

Aviles - Lagos de Somiedo La Farrapona

La Vuelta 2025 Stage 14 Redesign Version 2 - 166.5 km, +5464 m. Bike ride in Avilés, Asturias

ridewithgps.com

Cruz de Linares(1), Campo Dosango(2) and Cordal(2) before Cobertoria(1/ESP), Trobaniello(ESP) and La Farrrapona(2) from the other side that has been apparently paved (from the Ventana interseciton at km 7.5 onwards) according to this post by @ice&fire. One issue might be that the climb of Trobaniello and the false flat afterwards is gravel but it does not look dangerous. Another issue might be that they may be approaching the finish line from the Castilla y Leon region.

Verison 3 166.1 Km

Aviles - La Farrapona Lagos de Somiedo

La Vuelta 2025 Stage 14 Redesign Version 3 - 166.1 km, +5460 m. Bike ride in Avilés, Asturias

ridewithgps.com

Basically a bit of a mixture of the two before with the chain of Cobertoria(1/ESP)-Trobaniello(ESP)-San Lorenzo(1/ESP)-La Farrapona(1). Obviously you can add some other climbs before these 4 like Cordal or Cruz de Linares or Tenebredo.

Stage 15-16: I think stage 15 can stay as it is. Not great on a Sunday but previous 2 stages were GC stages so I'm fine with this. I like stage 16 so it also stays like that.

Stage 17 O Barco de Valdeorras - Estacion Esqui El Morredero
Version 1 240.5 Km

O Barco de Valdeorras - Estacion Esqui El Morredero

La Vuelta a Espana 2025 Stage 17 Redesign - 240.5 km, +7145 m. Bike ride in Barco (O), Galicia

ridewithgps.com

Needing another UCI dispensation but should not be a problem. You can basically move the start or finish by 600 m to solve the problem. (For some reason the profile says that there are unpaved roads at the start but they are going through N-120 so a bug of ridewithgps)

They crest El Morredero(ESP) from Ponferrada side at around km 75. Afterwards they climb Virgen del Valle(3) (could not find a profile for this side), Piedrafita(1), before Fonte da Cova(ESP) which may see long range attacks with the top being crested about 55 km to go before the final climb to Llano de las Ovejas(1/ESP) after which 10 kms of flat/downhill mixture lead to the finish in Morredero.

Version 2 153.4 Km

O Barco de Valdeorras - Estacion Esqui El Morredero

2025 Vuelta a Espana Stage 17 Redesign - 153.5 km, +5713 m. Bike ride in Barco (O), Galicia

ridewithgps.com

The easier version. Fonte da Cova(ESP) at the start of the stage this time before Gobernadas(2/3). At mid part of the stage Piedrafita(1) (the left side of the profile) is climbed with 77 km or so from the line, followed by Virgen del Valle(1/2) then some small hills before the final climb to Llano de las Ovejas(1/ESP) like version 1.

Stage 18 Valladolid ITT 36.9 Km

Valladolid ITT

La Vuelta 2025 Stage 18 Redesign - 36.9 km, +259 m. Bike ride in Valladolid, Castilla Y León

ridewithgps.com

Since the mountain stages are tougher, there a 2 decent length time trials.

Stage 19-20-21: Stage 19 and 21 are same. About stage 20, since Bola del Mundo has such a tough finish deterring attacks from far out I'm not sure if changing the profile works wonders. Not a fan of it in stage 20 obviously. An option would be doing Morcuera-Cotos before the flat to Navacerrada before the wall to Bola del Mundo. Another option would be to do like what @Libertine Seguros did here and do Navacerrada S - Fuente de La Reina - Navacerrada N before turning to Bola del Mundo.

 

[Forever The Best]

As many said, the main issue with some of the Vuelta routes is that they are purposefully avoiding climbs. Fonte da Cova is a great example of that I think.

 

[ice&fire]

As many said, the main issue with some of the Vuelta routes is that they are purposefully avoiding climbs. Fonte da Cova is a great example of that I think.

Fonte da Cova is a fugly climb with a road surrounded by slate stone quarries everywhere. Who wants to see that landscape on TV?

Have a look at a satellite image of the area.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[Red Rick]

Fonte da Cova is a fugly climb with a road surrounded by slate stone quarries everywhere. Who wants to see that landscape on TV?

Have a look at a satellite image of the area.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

I actually don't find it ugly?

Road looks nice, you can see very far, quarries aren't that visible, and it's a lot less barren than all those climbs in the south.

 

[Forever The Best]

Fonte da Cova is a fugly climb with a road surrounded by slate stone quarries everywhere. Who wants to see that landscape on TV?

Have a look at a satellite image of the area.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

I think it's only one or two parts where the quarries seem visible. And apart from that I don't think scenery is terrible.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's worth noting that in your version of stage 17 above, you've shown the profile of the A Medua side of Fonte da Cova, but your RidewithGPS link shows you climbing the Sobradelo side, fundamentally it's the same, but the first few kilometres are more gentle on the main road from Sobradelo.

Sobradelo side:

A Medua side:

Here's my proposal, since Unipublic are married to the MTF.

I've climbed Fonte da Cova at the start of the stage after only a short lead-in, then done the classic traceur combo with Llano de las Ovejas. However I've then descended the main road route towards Ponferrada, with a detour via Lombillo before then heading through the Valdueza valley and climbing El Morredero from the west side through Peñalba de Santiago. This is a bit contentious as to its viability but I think there's enough time for this given we've seen enough climbs of Navacerrada from both sides in a single stage and so on, but we would need to descend the section between the Alto de la Cruz (where the two sides of Morredero meet) and the junction for the ski station (just under a kilometre from the finish) at around 55km from the finish.

This would give us an ESP climb in the early going and a borderline cat.1/ESP at 67km from the finish, a very long descent broken up by a short punchy climb and then a borderline cat.1/ESP MTF. You could bring Llano de las Ovejas a few kilometres closer to the finish by skipping Lombillo, but then you wouldn't go into Ponferrada itself and I can't see any other realistically viable hosts for a sprint, plus with the finish at El Morredero it's likely Ponferrada that's paying.

This is El Morredero from Peñalba:

 

[Forever The Best]

Good point, fixed. (it only applied for the second version fwiw - first one was climbing through A Medua side)

Honestly I was not aware of that side, much less that it is paved. I actually really like your design, especially given that Ponferrada is likely the one to pay. That side seems like a Guillen special too being shorter and steeper than the other one, surprised they haven't used it.

 

[ice&fire]

Good point, fixed. (it only applied for the second version fwiw - first one was climbing through A Medua side)

Honestly I was not aware of that side, much less that it is paved. I actually really like your design, especially given that Ponferrada is likely the one to pay. That side seems like a Guillen special too being shorter and steeper than the other one, surprised they haven't used it.

Ponferrada went bankrupt after the 2014 Worlds. It will take some time until their collective memory forget it and they bid again to host a bike race.

 

[Red Rick]

It's worth noting that in your version of stage 17 above, you've shown the profile of the A Medua side of Fonte da Cova, but your RidewithGPS link shows you climbing the Sobradelo side, fundamentally it's the same, but the first few kilometres are more gentle on the main road from Sobradelo.

Sobradelo side:

A Medua side:

Here's my proposal, since Unipublic are married to the MTF.

I've climbed Fonte da Cova at the start of the stage after only a short lead-in, then done the classic traceur combo with Llano de las Ovejas. However I've then descended the main road route towards Ponferrada, with a detour via Lombillo before then heading through the Valdueza valley and climbing El Morredero from the west side through Peñalba de Santiago. This is a bit contentious as to its viability but I think there's enough time for this given we've seen enough climbs of Navacerrada from both sides in a single stage and so on, but we would need to descend the section between the Alto de la Cruz (where the two sides of Morredero meet) and the junction for the ski station (just under a kilometre from the finish) at around 55km from the finish.

This would give us an ESP climb in the early going and a borderline cat.1/ESP at 67km from the finish, a very long descent broken up by a short punchy climb and then a borderline cat.1/ESP MTF. You could bring Llano de las Ovejas a few kilometres closer to the finish by skipping Lombillo, but then you wouldn't go into Ponferrada itself and I can't see any other realistically viable hosts for a sprint, plus with the finish at El Morredero it's likely Ponferrada that's paying.

This is El Morredero from Peñalba:

Had to check multiple times that final Morredero version wasn't just Hazallanas but the x axis is different

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Had to check multiple times that final Morredero version wasn't just Hazallanas but the x axis is different

You will also note Alto de la Cruz (when descending) is marked at 91,5km in my stage profile as well, so you could have a descent finish in Ponferrada. It would cut off the end of Morredero from that side but still keep the 5km @ 11% steep bit, that would be about 19km from the line if you went directly into Ponferrada, and about 26 if you threw Lombillo in there. On its own that could make for a decent enough stage finish - sadly it's hard to do anything about the run of around 15km from Ponferrada to the base of that side though, it's the only road into or through that valley, so this side of Morredero is a bit like Lagos de Covadonga in that respect.

 

[Potomac]

I'm suffering from Grand Tour Route Rumor Fatigue