Vuelta a España Vuelta 2026 route rumours

[ice&fire]

i dont think it will look like this when the race passes by:

Street View · Google Maps

Ort in Google Maps noch intensiver erleben.

www.google.com

They can repave the full section of that closed road, but the 20% slopes and the turns will still be there

 

[Red Rick]

They can repave the full section of that closed road, but the 20% slopes and the turns will still be there

Great.

How long will the overpaid professionals take to figure it out before they go crying to their mommy Adam Hansen?

 

[Samamba]

Looking forward to some main character syndrome from Adam Hansen complaining about the heat 3 weeks straight.

 

[YavorD]

They decided to randomly include Miserat in the stage to Aitana.
Of course it will be probably wasted.

 

[ice&fire]

Great.

How long will the overpaid professionals take to figure it out before they go crying to their mommy Adam Hansen?

Leaving aside that aspect, Guillén has publicly rejected including in the race some other descents because he considered them dangerous. Nobody understands why this one is the exception. Surely he wanted the finish at the top of Monte Bartolo, but being inside a protected Natural Park he just got the permission to ride through.

They decided to randomly include Miserat in the stage to Aitana.
Of course it will be probably wasted.

A descent finish in Pego after Miserat is considered too dangerous, so let's waste it as we did a couple of years ago with Estranguada.

 

[Gigs_98]

Number of more or less flat stages a bit too high for my liking but perhaps some of them will go to the break or puncheurs since most of them are actually quite hilly. The mountain stages are a pleasant surprise though. Stage 20 is a proper queen stage inviting early attacks. Feels like we barely ever see something like this in the Vuelta.

 

[YavorD]

Number of more or less flat stages a bit too high for my liking but perhaps some of them will go to the break or puncheurs since most of them are actually quite hilly. The mountain stages are a pleasant surprise though. Stage 20 is a proper queen stage inviting early attacks. Feels like we barely ever see something like this in the Vuelta.

Is it really inviting early attacks?
The final climb is very hard and the descent from Hazallanas is rather easy, not too great for early attacks.
Obviously great for the Vuelta and you're desperate in stage 20, you have the terrain, but I think it's hard for a long range attack to stick.

 

[Gigs_98]

Is it really inviting early attacks?
The final climb is very hard and the descent from Hazallanas is rather easy, not too great for early attacks.
Obviously great for the Vuelta and you're desperate in stage 20, you have the terrain, but I think it's hard for a long range attack to stick.

Perhaps "inviting" is too strong of a word. But at Hazallanas is a proper climb where, if you need to, you can really blow up the race without the move being completely suicidal. And I dont think you can say that about many final mountain stages of recent Vueltas.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Perhaps "inviting" is too strong of a word. But at Hazallanas is a proper climb where, if you need to, you can really blow up the race without the move being completely suicidal. And I dont think you can say that about many final mountain stages of recent Vueltas.

I also can't think of a single other climb of this size that is as conducive to fracturing the peloton in the first 500 metres by virtue of good positioning, courtesy of the little descent before it. So that should help the chance of the race being blown up there.

 

[YavorD]

I also can't think of a single other climb of this size that is as conducive to fracturing the peloton in the first 500 metres by virtue of good positioning, courtesy of the little descent before it. So that should help the chance of the race being blown up there.

Fair point. I honestly forgot about that little detail in the beginning of Hazallanas.
Perhaps I was a bit too critical about this stage.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Amazing route for the vuelta a andaluxia ruta ciclista del sol. Not sure about the increase to 21 stages though

 

[Descender]

Unironically one of the best routes of recent times.

It has many flaws, of course. But compared with last year's abomination, I was pleasantly surprised.

There are a couple of true, decently drawn mountain stages. Andorra is fine as it is for Stage 4, the descent after sterrato in Castellón tells us Guillen might not be dead inside after all, and the mountain stage to Calar Alto, though improvable, is exciting. I'd argue it's a rare case in the Vuelta where the second-to-last climb (Velefique) is harder than the last one (Calar Alto through Bacares).

That we should be happy about 41km ITT is depressing, but that's the world we live in.

Finally, Stage 20 is much better as a last mountain stage than we're used to. Yes, Alguacil is a hard final climb and the descent before it is not the hardest, but Hazallanas-Purche-Hazallanas are three hard 1st Cat/borderline HC climbs and if the need and the will are there, the terrain will also be there.