The opening stage is a 9.6-kilometre individual time trial winding its way through the tiny tax haven. The following day, the riders leave Monaco and head to the French village of Manosque. The day after, the route goes from Gruissan to Font Romeu.
La Vuelta visits Andorra in the course of the first week, while a flat stage through the Terres de l’Ebre towards Roquetes is also on the cards. The following day, the red caravan heads to the ski resort of Valdelinares via the Alto de San Rafael. The final climb rises for 8 kilometres at an average gradient of 6.6%.
On the fourth day, the Vuelta visits Andorra with a compact climbing stage, while sprinters can look forward to stage 5, a flat route through the Terres de l’Ebre towards Roquetes. The following day, the red caravan tackles four climbs on the way to Castellón, with the challenging – and partly unpaved – Puerto El Bartolo spicing up the finale. Stage 7 features a new uphill finish – in fact, the last 50 kilometres are mostly uphill, culminating in a finish at the ski resort of Valdelinares. The final 8 kilometres rise at an average gradient of 6.6%.
Stage 8 looks set to favour the fast men for a change, before the riders arrive at the Alto de Aitana on stage 9 during their southward journey. This 21.2-kilometre climb at 5.9% was last included in the Vuelta ten years ago, when the recently retired Pierre Letour took the win, which would turn out to be the biggest victory of his career.
Week 2
The second week opens with a constantly undulating stage finishing on a false flat in Elche de la Sierra, while stage 11 is relatively flat by Vuelta standards, aside from a short climb in the final 35 kilometres. The following day, the riders tackle three introductory climbs before a finale familiar from 2017: first the Alto de Velefique (13.2 kilometres at 7.3%), followed immediately by the ascent to the largest telescope on the European mainland, the Calar Alto Observatory. This climb rises for 15.5 kilometres at an average gradient of 6%. Nine editions ago, Miguel Ángel López stayed clear of a group containing Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Wilco Kelderman at the observatory.
Stage 13 gets under way on the Costa Tropical and finishes, after plenty of climbing along the way, on the plains west of Granada. In stage 14, the riders can brace themselves for a summit finish on the Alto de La Pandera. The final climb is 8.4 kilometres long at an average gradient of 7.8%, with the steepest kilometre pitching up to 12%. Four editions ago, Richard Carapaz triumped at La Pandera from the break.
The second week concludes with a stage from Palma del Río to Córdoba, where Wout van Aert triumphed two editions ago.
Week 3
Stage 16 starts out hilly but becomes progressively flatter as the riders approach the finish in La Rábida. While that may already offer an opportunity for the fast men, stage 17 does so even more emphatically, with not a single climb on the route from Dos Hermanas to Seville.
With stage 18, a decisive three-day sequence for the overall victory gets under way. The riders first tackle a 32.5-kilometre time trial on flat to gently rolling terrain, before stage 19 ups the stakes. Although it does not feature truly unscalable mountains, the final climb is a serious test. The finish comes atop Peñas Blancas, a grind of 19 kilometres at an average of 6.7%. In 2022, Richard Carapaz and Wilco Kelderman put on an enthralling show on the slopes above Estepona, with the Ecuadorian emerging victorious.
Stage 20 is a monstrous test in the Sierra Nevada. The route heads uphill on four occasions, including a double ascent of the brutally steep Alto de Hazallanas, before finishing at the Collada de Alguacil. The final climb measures 16.7 kilometres at 6.7%, with the second half featuring almost continuous double-digit gradients.
The final stage consists of a city circuit in Granada, which is spiced up with a punchy climb.
Vuelta a España 2026: route, profiles, videos
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Would it be possible to get the stage maps (or, even better, routes)? Thanks, MV
The GPX files are currently available: https://www.cyclingstage.com/vuelta-2026-gpx/