Vuelta to take in Netherlands, France, Portugal
THE Vuelta a Espana organisers unveiled an internationa l route on Tuesday with Spani s h c y c l i ng ’s g r a nd t ou r embarking from the Netherlands before side excursions into France and Portuga l on t he 2020 itinerar y.
The action begins with an a genda-set t i ng tea m t i me t r i a l i n t he Dutch c it y of Utrecht on August 14 and culminates 3,245k m, 21 stages and t hree potentia l ly t hri l ling weeks later in Madrid on September 6.
As well as three Dutch stages t he route a l so feat u res c ycl i ng ’s my t h ic a l Col de Tour malet in Fra nce where Thibaut Pi not won a stage a head of Ju lia n A laphi lippe on the 2019 Tour de France.
For t he f irst time since 1997 t he route a lso ta kes i n t wo stages in Portuga l, including the only stage over 200km.
The route is also notable for e x c l ud i ng t he s welt e r i ng sout h a ltoget her.
Sloven ia’s Pr i moz Rog l ic (pictured, AFP) is the defending champion, while runnerup veteran Spaniard Alejandro Valverde is likely to race t he Tour de Fra nce a nd t he Oly mpics in July before retiring.
T h e 21-y e a r- o l d Ta d e j Pogaca r w i l l be a f ocus of attention after winning three stages, t he white jersey a nd f inishing t hird overa ll on his brea kout Vuelta in September.
A t r ad it iona l l y g r uel l i ng race, in its 75t h edit ion, t he route i ncludes seven steep climbs, one fewer t han an last yea r, as well as 11 stages ages t hat feature medium-to-tohigh mountains in Spain ain and France.
Pure climbers such h a s t he Colombia n s Nairo Quinta na a nd Miguel Angel Lopez, bot h present at t he unvei l i ng ceremony, w i l l s s e e plent y of f s c ope t o plot t hei r campaigns despite the he t wo longish time-tria ls.
“L a Vuelt a r ema i n s f a it h f u l to it s commitmitment to innovation and nd to it s de d ic at ion to bei ng i nt er nat iona l,” s a i d t he e v ent ’s d i r e c t or gener ner a l Jav ier Guillen.
“In 2020, we will undoubtoubtedly host be one of the e most
European sports events, v isiting four EU count r i e s : t he Net herl a n d s , S p a i n , Fra France, and Portu tugal.
“Spain is st i l l o our home, t he p l a c e t h a t r e m i n d s u s w h e r e w e c a me f r o m a n d w h e r e we are headed, but it also pushes us to g r o w a s a c o mp e t i t i o n a and to progress even f urt her.” There will be eight flat stages a and 11 hill and moun mountain stages, as well as one individual time trial and one team trial.
Less mountains
Roglic pulverised his riva ls on the time-trials last season, and will likely be pleased with t he 2020 route.
But with fearsome summit finishes posted at the Sanctuar y of Arrate, Laguna Negra, Tour malet, Monca lv i l lo, La Farrapona, Angliru, Mirador de Eza ro a nd La Covat i l la, Roglic will have much to fear from t he climb purists.
T he e a r l y s t a ge s i n t he Net herla nds wil l favour t he spr i nters before t he cl i mbs begin in Spain’s Basque count r y f rom stage four, wit h an 18k m ascent in stage si x t hat will end at Laguna Negra.
Stage nine and 10 offer more mounta i n cha l lenges, wit h t he for mer posi ng a 19k m climb of the Col du Tourmalet at a g radient of 7.4 per cent a nd t he lat ter f i n i sh i ng at Monca lv i l lo a f ter a 15k m climb, t he last eight k ilometres at an unforgiv ing 9.2 per cent.
After some welcome respite for the sprinters, stage 15 perhaps presents the most formidable phase of the course, as a sect ion of t he Cuena les Cabres i ncludes 3k m at a lu ng-bust i ng 23.5 per cent gradient.
Stage 18 will leave Spain for Portugal before the 20th stage brings t he f inal summit f inish at La Covatilla. The sprint to the line in Madrid will conclude at t he Pla za de Cibeles at t he end of stage 21.