The red caravan sets off at the Palazzo di Venaria Reale in Turin, mirroring the Giro’s Grande Partenza of 2024. That finish was in Turin after a punchy finale won by Jhonatan Narváez. But La Vuelta’s stage 1 is set to finish in Novara, where the fast men are expected to fight for the first pink jersey.
The 2nd stage traverses flat roads until the final 7.6 kilometres rise at 5.4% to the finish line in Limone Piemonte.
The Vuelta serves up nearly 2,000 metres of climbing in the 3rd stage. The route is lumpy, with five notable uphill sections. Midway through the race, the Puerto Issaglio serves up 6.4 kilometres of ascending at 6%. Immediately after the descent, riders face a 2.6-kilometre climb at 5.3% up to Prascorsano. At 35 kilometres from the finish, they will pass through Corio after an uphill of 1.8 kilometres at 5.7%. Following the descent, the road transitions into a long section of false flat before the final 2.2 kilometres climb at 4.2% to the finish line.
The 4th stage starts in Susa, Italy, and finishes in Voiron, a small town north of Grenoble, France. The riders will be traversing the French Alps in the first part of the stage, while the second part is flat or goes downhill.
Stage 5 is the first on Spanish soil, taking place in Catalonia, where a flat team time trial is scheduled around Figueres. The following day, the Vuelta passes through Andorra in the 6th stage, finishing uphill in the picturesque village op Pal. Stage 7 also involves climbing, as the riders tackle three peaks along the way before a mountain top finish in Cerler.
Stage 8 is flat, and stage 9 serves up ‘Spanish flat’ lead-in to the final climb towards the ski resort of Valdezcaray, which averages 5.2% over 13.8 kilometres.
Week 2
The second week begins as the first ends: with a Spanish flat run-in to an uphill finish. Stage 10 features 3,317 metres of elevation gain, culminating in a summit finish at the Larra-Belagua ski resort. Stage 11 brings a tough test in the hills around Bilbao before the 12th stage should (also) favour breakaway artists on a route with a 6.6 kilometres climb at 8.3% with 22.5 kilometres remaining.
The race then heads into the rugged mountain landscape of Asturias. On Friday and Saturday, La Vuelta serves up two tough mountain stages in the far north of Spain, with finishes at the Angliru (stage 13) and La Farrapona (stage 14). On Stage 15, the riders can ease off a bit. The first part of the stage remains hilly, but the second half is flat to rolling – in theory, another chance for the breakaway.
Week 3
GC riders have two opportunities to improve their standings during the final week – an ITT and what is arguably the hardest mountain stage of the entire race -, but it begins with two races that seem more suited or the breakaway. Stage 16 is a hilly race featuring over 3,350 metres of climbing, finishing on an 8.7-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 5.1%. Stage 17 offers a similar amount of elevation gain and finish on a 18.1 kilometres ascent with several sections hitting double-digit gradients.
Stage 18 is the second ITT of La Vuelta – 26 kilometres long and virtually flat – before stage 19 has bunch sprint written all over it. After that, it’s time for the climbers to seize their moment on the penultimate day.
Stage 20 might just be the toughest of the entire Vuelta. With four climbs along the way, the stage finishes on the Bola del Mundo, a gruelling 12.5-kilometre ascent averaging 8.5%, including a punishing final 3.2 kilometres at 12.2%.
The final stage unfolds on flat roads leading to Madrid’s city circuit, where the race is almost certain to conclude with a bunch sprint.
Vuelta a España 2025: route, profiles, videos
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