2026 Vuelta a España route revealed with seven summit finishes and over 58,000m of climbing

• From Saturday, August 22 to Sunday, September 13
• From Monaco to Granada over 3,275km
• 9 flat or hilly stages
• 10 medium mountain and mountain stages
• 2 individual time trials
• 2 rest days
• Total elevation gain: 58,156m

The 2026 Vuelta a España will feature more than 58,000m of total climbing in what has been billed as one of the toughest editions in the history of the race. The route was presented on Wednesday evening in Monaco, where the race will start on August 22. 

As expected, the Vuelta will finish in Granada after the Canary Islands withdrew their bid to host the finale. The 3,275km route features two individual time trials and no fewer than ten mountain stages.

In recent years, only the 2024 Vuelta, with its 59,900m of total climbing, has surpassed the altitude gain of the 2026 race, which will see seven summit finishes, at Font Romeu, Valdelinares, the Alto de Aitana, Calar Alto, La Pandera, Peñas Blancas and Collado del Alguacil in Sierra Nevada.

There is 41km of time trialling on the route, with a 9km individual time trial in Monaco on the opening night and a flat 32km test in Jerez de la Frontera on stage 18.

The demanding nature of the Vuelta marks a break with the more scaled-back routes already unveiled for the 2026 Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. The Giro appears to have been designed expressly to tempt riders into doubling up at the corsa rosa and the Tour, while ASO has pitched the Tour route as being “in crescendo” ahead of a tough finale in the Alps.

Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) has confirmed that he will return to the Vuelta in a bid to win a record-breaking fifth overall title, while João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) will look to improve on his second place from 2025.

It remains to be seen if defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) will return to the Vuelta, while Tadej Pogačar’s 2026 programme has only been planned as far as the Tour de France. UAE Team Emirates-XRG have indicated that a decision on his participation will only be taken after the Tour.

For the third year in a row, the Vuelta will get underway on foreign roads, with Monaco hosting the start of the race. The principality previously hosted the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2009 and, as on that occasion, the Vuelta will get underway with an individual time trial on a decidedly technical circuit in Monte Carlo.

The opening road stage brings the Vuelta from Monaco into France on a rolling parcours towards Manosque, where the uphill finale might not be to the liking of all the sprinters in the field.

The Vuelta hits the Pyrenees on stage 3, with a two-part climb in the finale. After tackling the category 1 Col de Mont-Louis, the riders will face almost immediately into the category 2 haul to the finish at Font-Romeu, where route designer Fernando Escartín expects a group of “twenty to thirty” to fight out the honours.

More mountains follow on stage 4, which is just 104km in length and takes place entirely in Andorra. An explosive day is in store, with the category 1 Port d’Envalira, Collada de Beixalís, and Coll de Ordino all featuring. The short, sharp category 3 ascent of La Comella is included before the finish in Andorra La Vella.

The Vuelta finally reaches Spain on stage 5 to Roquetes, where the hilly terrain does not preclude a bunch sprint, but there is more climbing on the medium mountain leg to Castelló on stage 6. The category 1 climb of Puerto El Bartolo in the finale will be the centrepiece. It features 3km of dirt road, which should create separation among the GC men. The summit is 20km from the finish.

The second summit finish of the Vuelta comes on stage 7 to Valdelinares in Aragon. The climb of San Rafael precedes the stiff category 1 haul to the line on what should be an important rendezvous for the overall favourites.

Stage 8 to Xeraco is a chance for the sprinters, though the late climb of Puerto de Barx complicates matters, and the curtain comes down on the opening week of the Vuelta with one of the toughest legs of the entire race. 

There are six classified climbs and some 5,000m of climbing on stage 9, which finishes with a tough summit finish at Alto de Aitana, which features on the Vuelta route for the fifth time. Pierre Latour was the last winner, in 2016, while Claus Michael Møller was the first back in 2001. “The heat could make this already challenging stage even tougher,” Escartín warned.

Indeed, heat looks likely to be a hazard in this Vuelta even as the calendar flicks into September, given that the final two weeks of the race are concentrated squarely in the southern part of the country.

After the first rest day, the Vuelta resumes with a rolling day to Elche that will pit the break against the sprinters, and the fast men should get another chance at Lorca on stage 11.

The Vuelta enters Andalusia for the first time on stage 12, and the terrain is immediately demanding with five climbs on the agenda, including the two-part finale over the category 1 Alto de Velefique and then a summit finish at Calar Alto. Miguel Ángel López won on the Vuelta’s last visit in 2017.

There is respite of sorts on stage 13 to Loja, where the more resilient fast men might get a shot at a sprint, but the race re-enters the mountains on stage 14 to La Pandera. The ascent has featured six times at the Vuelta, most recently in 2022, when Richard Carapaz scored a stage victory. The heat should again be a factor in Spain’s deep south.

The second week of the Vuelta concludes with a familiar finale in Córdoba on stage 15. The city has been a regular on the route over the years, and the terrain would appear to lend itself to a reduced group finish.

The final week of the Vuelta begins with what looks like the two chances for the fast men. After a rapid run-in to La Rábida on stage 16, there is a decidedly flat run to Seville on stage 17 for a likely sprint finish on the banks of the Guadalquivir. 

The GC race comes sharply back into focus on stage 18, which sees the riders take on a flat 32km time trial along a coastal route to Jerez de la Frontera. The wind might well play a part in deciding the day’s winner, and this stage looks set to re-shape the overall standings significantly ahead of the grand finale in the high mountains.

This Vuelta was originally slated to conclude with four stages on the Canary Islands, including a summit finish on Mount Teide on the final day, but those plans were scrapped when the local council of Gran Canaria objected to the presence of NSN Pro Cycling, as Israel-Premier Tech are now known.

Javier Guillén has instead placed the denouement of his race in Andalusia, and the stage 19 to Peñas Blancas looks set to be a pivotal day. A trio of climbs in the Serranía de Ronda will doubtless see escapees go up the road, but the key battle among the GC men will surely come on the stiff final category 1 haul up Peñas Blancas, where Carapaz also won in 2022.

The grand finale of this Vuelta, meanwhile, will come around Sierra Nevada on stage 20, which features 5,000m of climbing in 187km. It is arguably the toughest stage of the entire Vuelta, with the category 3 ascent of Puerto de Blancares followed by the category 1 El Purche and a double ascent of the category 1 Hazallanas. 

The final test, however, is provided by the special category Collado del Alguacil (8.3km at 9.8%). The man in red at the summit should be the winner of this Vuelta, though stage 21 in Granada isn’t exactly a ceremonial procession. There are five laps of a finishing circuit that includes a sharp climb to the Alhambra. There could be frissons to the very last minute at this most demanding of races.