The Spanish Grand Tour never before visited Santa Pola, a beach resort on Spain’s southern Costa Blanca. The riders head south along the Mediterranean coast to move through Torrevieja after 23 kilometres. The turquoise waters of the Mediterranean remain on their left until they reach Cartagena after 94 kilometres.
The inland spin in the last 70 kilometres features a number of small climbs, but presumably not enough to thwart a bunch sprint from happening.
It’s been 41 years since La Vuelta last visited La Manga del Mar Menor. In 1980, the town hosted the Big Start and Roberto Visentini won the ITT on the first day of action. In 1977, Freddy Maertens won his second of a total of thirteen stages that year, while he also took the overall. More recently, in 2018, Nacer Bouhanni outsprinted Danny van Poppel and Elia Viviani in nearby San Javier.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while there are 3, 2 and 1 seconds available at the intermediate sprint.
Another interesting read: results 8th stage 2021 Vuelta.
Vuelta a España 2021 stage 8: route, profiles, more
Click on the images to zoom
Related articles The Route - Vuelta 20 Riders - Vuelta 20 Withdrawals - Vuelta 20 Route and stages - Vuelta 20 GC Favourites - Vuelta 20 More articles Tour de France 2024: The Route
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 1: Florence - Rimini
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 2: Cesenatico - Bologna
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 3: Piacenza - Turin
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 4: Pinerolo - Valloire
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 5: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne - Saint-Vulbas
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 7: Nuits-Saint-Georges - Gevrey-Chambertin
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 8: Semur-en-Auxois - Colombey-les-Deux-Églises
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 9: Troyes - Troyes
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 11: Evaux-les-Bains - Le Lioran
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 12: Aurillac - Villeneuve-sur-Lot
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 14: Pau - Pla d'Adet
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 15: Loudenvielle - Plateau de Beille
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 16: Gruissan - Nîmes
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 17: Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Superdévoluy
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 18: Gap - Barcelonnette
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 19: Embrun - Isola 2000
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 20: Nice - Col de la Couillole
Tour de France 2024 Route stage 21: Monaco - Nice
Giro 2024: The Route
Giro 2024 Route stage 1: Turin - Turin
Giro 2024 Route stage 2: San Fransesco al Campo - Oropa
Giro 2024 Route stage 3: Novara - Fossano
Giro 2024 Route stage 4: Acqui Terme - Andora
Giro 2024 Route stage 5: Genoa - Lucca
Giro 2024 Route stage 6: Viareggio - Rapolano Terme
Giro 2024 Route stage 7: Foligno - Perugia
Giro 2024 Route stage 8: Spoleto - Prati di Tivo
Giro 2024 Route stage 9: Naples - Naples
Cycling Calendar 2024
Though I can’t ride a bicycle I am very much interested in watching 3 big Tours. Excellent riders and beautiful landscapes etc
I do hope that they don’t get Covid-19 from people roadside supporters without masks.