An unprecedented departure from Monaco, a final arrival in Granada and in between, an orgy of passes along the Mediterranean: the 81st edition of the Tour of Spain (August 22-September 13), presented Wednesday evening in the Monaco principality, promises to be one of the most difficult in history.
The previous edition of the Vuelta took place mainly in the north of Spain before ending in chaos in Madrid with a final stage which could not be completed due to pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Jonas Vingegaard was forced to celebrate his victory in a hotel parking lot during a ceremony improvised by the runners.
For the 2026 edition, the organizers hope that the change of name, nationality and structure of the Israel Premier Tech team, which is now called NSN Cycling, will make it possible to avoid such excesses, just as during the Tour de France which will leave Barcelona in July.
The route has, in any case, nothing to do with that of 2025 since, after two first stages starting from Monaco (including an individual time trial on the first day) and a third stage in France between Gruissan and Font-Romeu, the peloton will follow the Mediterranean Sea to head towards Andalusia and a grandiose finale in Granada in front of the Alhambra palace, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
The queen stage scheduled for the penultimate day
The path to get there is particularly arduous with no less than four medium mountain stages and six mountain stages for an absolutely insane total altitude difference of 58,156 m, much more than the Giro or the Tour de France, the two other major Tours. “It will be one of the most demanding editions in history,” warns Javier Guillen, director of the Vuelta.
He hopes to attract the cream of climbers with this route. Starting with Tadej Pogacar, even if the Slovenian, unlike his compatriot Primoz Roglic in the running for a record fifth victory, did not mention the Tour of Spain when unveiling his calendar for 2026 last Saturday.
The serious things begin on the third stage towards Font-Romeu before the first big mountain stage the next day in Andorra. “We will then visit emblematic passes of the Vuelta including Valdelinares, Calar Alto, the La Pandera massif and the Alto de Aitana,” explained Javier Guillen. The queen stage is scheduled on the eve of the final arrival with a day of more than 5,000 m of elevation gain.
The chances of the sprinters will be reduced to a minimum but the riders, as well as the general classification riders, will have two time trials to get their teeth into, the first day in Monaco over 9 km and the second during the 18th stage, 32 km in the vineyards of Cádiz.
