Welcome to the presentation of the 2026 Vuelta a España! It will come to no surprise that the race will consist out of 21 stages, as we're looking for a runner-up to Silvio Herklotz, who has won the race for the third time recently, becoming the first rider to do so. He might even go for a fourth win himself, depending on the team and manager he lands with in the off-season. Let's have a look at the race profile, and where this Vuelta will take us.
Week 1: Holiday Spain
Spoiler
The title doesn't lie. The first nine consecutive days (from Saturday to the next Sunday) without rest day will bring us to the classic holiday places and regions, which most of the year are infested by tourists. Yours truly definitely has been among those tourists on several occasions. First off, we have three days on the island of Mallorca.
The Vuelta kicks off with a 4.3km prologue in the capital city Palma de Mallorca, with the next stage being the first chance for the sprinters, as they head towards Colonia de Sant Jordi. As with most Vuelta stages, even the sprinter stages aren't pan-flat, but have some undulation in them as well. The final Mallorca stage is a hilly one, finishing on the Mirador des Colomer in Pollença. The profile builders even rate it as medium mountain. The chance of having three different red jersey wearers in the first three days is definitely present.
And a fourth one is definitely on the tables as well the day after. The teams will cross the Balearic See towards Valencia, on the Spanish mainland, where a 35km long team time trial awaits them. That's two time trials in four days indeed. Valencia will also be the start place of stage five, which is the next hilly/MM stage, bringing the riders to La Nucia. This stage doesn't finish uphill like the Mallorca one though, so maybe this is more suited for another set of riders, assuming the breakaway riders aren't already on stage winning duties either.
Speaking about holiday Spain, the riders continue their path on the coast southwards towards Benidorm, which is both the start and finish place of stage 6. Is it an easy hilly stage, a hard sprint stage, or a great breakaway stage? Hard to predict, but there are definitely chances for many types of riders.
Next holiday destination? Andalucia, for the first mountain stage! The famous Sierra Nevada is the finish location of the first mountainous stage of this Vuelta, but as the rest of the stage isn't that hard, the difference will have to be made on the Sierra Nevada itself.
Apart from Andalucia, Malaga is also part of our holiday week, with the hilly stage eight bringing us to yet again two very popular holiday destinations, from Marbella to Malaga. Another hilly stage with chances for the puncheurs and breakaway riders, which, coincidentally, one rider can be both. The week ends with a mountain stage to Capileira, as this stage also offers a mountain-top finish, just like the one to Sierra Nevada.
The puncheurs, if not able to follow on stage 12, definitely have their chances on the two stages after that. Basque Country will be their playground, with first a stage from Zamudio to Mallabia, and then stage 14 from Bilbao to Donostia. Similarities to the irl 2023 Tour de France stage two are not a coincidence! Speaking about France, that's also where the final stage of the week will end. The riders will climb their way from Sabiñanigo to Luz Ardiden, and unlike the other mountain stages this week, I think there's no doubt we can classify this one as a mountain stage, with the fifth mountaintop finishes in as many mountain stages so far.
Week 3: Catalunya and Andorra
Spoiler
The final week and thus final six stages are all about Catalunya, and also one big stage in Andorra. Just like the second week, this week also starts with a real chance for the sprinters in stage 16, heading from Tortosa to El Vendrell. But apart from that chance, they'll have to wait a bit longer to shine again, as stage 17 is very undulating and another great MM/breakaway stage, finishing at the Millenary of Montserrat.
Stage 18 might be the queen stage of this Vuelta, as it brings us to Andorra for some excruciating climbing and even a gravel sector. Looking at the profile, there basically doesn't seem to be a relaxing flat part. Either you go up and try to stay with the best, or you go down and need to make sure to not drop the wheels of the best.
And if you finish the stage and think this Vuelta is over, well, it isn't. Stage 19 is a hilly rated Barcelona stage, where sprinters will need to try and stay with the peloton in the difficult opening part of the stage. Keeping the breakaway at bay will also be another hard task for sprinter or puncheur teams this late in the race, as the stage is an exact copy of the 2026 MG Volta a Catalunya stage, which has been created by Ulrich Ulriksen.
So in the end no Madrid in the Vuelta this year, but definitely a lot of other important cities as a start or finish (or both) location. It will be interesting to see what riders end up on the startlist at the end of the season. See you back tomorrow for something... different!
Type of stages:
Prologue 1
TTT 1
Flat 4
Hills 4
MM 4
Mountain 7
Looks like an interesting route, few flat stages and a lot of climbing. Considering we are starting with a prologue I think I know a rider who will come here...
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Agree with the assesment of the route being HerkHeaven, it's going to be interesting to see if any of the competitors will have strong enough TTT setups to compete with the German, depending on where he ends up.
Thanks for the cool presentation, Nemo!
Not sure we'll have a fitting GC rider (or sprinter come to it) for this kind of GT, so stage hunting in breakaways here we come!
