Vuelta 2026 Route stage 14: Jaén - Sierra de la Pandera

Saturday 5 September - Stage 14 of the Vuelta takes the riders from Jaén to the Sierra de la Pandera. The 154.5-kilometre route offers virtually no flat roads before culminating in an 11.9-kilometre final climb averaging 7.2%. The elevation gain sums up to 4,338 metres.

Last updated: 21 August 2026 – final route confirmed

Race type: mountain stage
Likely winners: climbers
Weather: forecast pending

The road begins climbing gently from the very start towards Mancha Real, but it's at very shallow gradients, and it remains like that in the first part of the race. In fact, the riders tackle a rolling 69.7-kilometre loop before returning to Jaén, where the route continues to rise gradually towards the foot of the Puerto de los Villares, wthere the riders arrive some 80 kilometres into the stage.

The Puerto de los Villares is a 10.5-kilometre climb averaging 5.4%. As the crow flies, it would be only around 12 kilometres to the finish, but the riders have another 61.7 kilometres to cover.

The descent is followed by 20 kilometres of rolling terrain leading to the Puerto de Locubín, an 8.7-kilometre ascent averaging 5.1%. From there, the road drops towards Valdepeñas de Jaén, where a short but punchy ramp ushers in the finale. After a brief descent, the riders then tackle a false-flat drag to the foot of the final climb.

The climb to the Sierra de la Pandera is 11.4 kilometres long and averages 7.2%. With 4.5 kilometres to go to the summit, the toughest section begins, as the road climbs at double-digit gradients for 2 kilometres, with a ramp of 15% just before the flamme rouge.

In the final kilometre, the road initially descends before rising again over the last few hundred metres.

This will be the seventh Vuelta finish atop the Sierra de la Pandera. Roberto Heras was the first winner in 2002, followed by Alejandro Valverde (2003), Andrey Kashechkin (2006), Damiano Cunego (2009), Rafał Majka (2017) and Richard Carapaz (2022).

Fancy riding the route yourself? Download GPX 14th stage 2026 Vuelta a España.

The 14th stage of La Vuelta starts at 13:15 and the race is expected to finish around 17:30 - both local times (CEST).

Another interesting read: favourites to win at the Sierra de la Pandera.