La Vuelta a España 2021 AUGUST 14 – SEPTEMBER 5 The Vuelta a España – cycling’s final Grand Tour of the year – first departed from Madrid in 1935, aiming to emulate growth of the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. The 2021 race begins in Burgos, Leon, and navigates a route entirely within Spain, before concluding at the pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia 2021 Route 1 Stage Stage start Stage finish Stage start / finish Rest day Transfer 1 START: Aug 14, Burgos 2 Caleruga Santo Domingo de Silos 3 Espinosa de los Monteros El Burgo de Osma 4 Molina de Aragón Tarancón 5 Albacete Requena 6 Alto de la Montaña Gandia 7 Balcón de Alicante Santa Pola 8 La Manga del Mar Menor Puerto Lumbreras 9 Alto de Velefique Roquetas de Mar 10 Rincón de la Victoria Antequera 11 Valdepeñas de Jaén Jaén 12 Córdoba Belmez 13 Villanueva de la Serena Don Benito 14 Pico Villuercas Navalmoral de la Mata 15 El Barraco Laredo 16 Santa Cruz de Bezana Unquera 17 Lagos de Covadonga 18 Salas Altu d’el Gamoniteiru Unquera Tapia 19 Monforte de Lemos Sanxenxo Mos. Castro de Herville 20 Padrón 21 FINISH: Sep 5, Santiago de Compostela PORTUGAL FRANCE 2021 edition features seven mountain stages – including summit finishes Picón Blanco (1,500m) and Alto de Velefique (1,800m), accompanied by challenging new mountain climb of Altu d’el Gamoniteiru (1,772m) – four hill stages, eight sprint stages and two individual time trials Total race distance 3,336.1km STAGE BREAKDOWN Individual time-trial Mountain stage Sprint stage Stage Aug-Sep km 1 14 8.0 2 15 169.5 3 16 203 4 17 163.6 5 18 184.4 6 19 159 7 20 152 8 21 163.3 9 22 187.8 10 24 190.2 11 25 131.6 12 26 166.7 13 27 197.2 14 28 159.7 15 29 193.4 16 31 170.8 17 1 181.6 18 2 159.2 19 3 187.8 20 4 173.6 21 5 33.7 Elite Club Spanish rider Roberto Heras – who finished in Top 6 each year between 1997 and 2005 – is only man to have conquered La Vuelta four times. Alberto Contador’s 2014 win – his third overall – provided most recent home victory 4 Roberto Heras ESP Vuelta tours 2000, 03, 04, 05 9 3 Tony Rominger SUI 1992, 93, 94 6 3 Alberto Contador ESP 2008, 12, 14 5 RECENT CHAMPIONS 2020 Primoz Roglic SVN Team Jumbo-Visma 2019 Primoz Roglic SVN Team Jumbo-Visma 2018 Simon Yates GBR Mitchelton-Scott 2017 Chris Froome GBR Team Sky 2016 Nairo Quintana COL Movistar Team 2015 Fabio Aru ITA Astana 2014 Alberto Contador ESP Tinkoff–Saxo Titles by country Home favourites have traditionally dominated race – winning 31 of 75 editions Spain: 31 France: 9 Belgium: 7 Italy: 6 Switzerland: 5 Others: Germany, Britain 3, Colombia, Netherlands, Russia, Slovenia 2 United States, Ireland, Kazakhstan 1 La Roja – race leader’s red jersey – introduced in 2009 by race director Javier Guillen. Colour already associated with success of national soccer team, nicknamed The Red. Succeeded multiple earlier combinations including inaugural orange jersey of 1935 HIGHEST NUMBER OF DAYS IN LEADER’S JERSEY Alex Zülle SUI (1993, 96, 97, 2000) 48 Roberto Heras ESP (2000, 02, 03, 04 05) 34 Gustaaf Deloor BEL (1935, 36) 32 Delio Rodriguez ESP (1941, 45, 46, 47) 32 Tony Rominger SUI (1992, 93, 94) 32 2020 winner Primoz Roglic Slovenian cyclist – racing for Jumbo-Visma – aiming for third successive La Vuelta title, after recent victory in Tokyo Olympics time trial Race Classifications Jersey colours Overall leader: Red Awarded to race winner and worn by current race leader at start of each stage – calculated by totalling each day’s finishing time Points leader: Green Fastest sprinters compete for points at end of each stage – points adjusted by terrain, with flat stages awarding most points King of the Mountains: Polka dot Held by rider who proves to be best climber, with more severe climbs offering most points Best young rider: White Awarded to highest placed rider aged 24 or younger on first day of year. Prize first introduced in 2017 La Vuelta: Start to finish 1935: Clemente Lopez Doriga and Juan Pujol, director of Informaciones newspaper, launch Vuelta a España. Gustaaf Deloor (right) of Belgium is first winner 1936: Deloor defends title in longest winning finishing time of 150 hours and seven minutes – race consists of 21 stages and is over 4,300 km long 1937-54: Race suffers several interruptions due to Spanish Civil War and outbreak of World War II 1941: Only Spanish and Swiss riders compete as Julian Berrendero becomes first home winner 1945 Points classification introduced, awarded to most consistent sprinters 1955-56 Appeal of Vuelta increases – Jean Dotto and Angelo Conterno are first winners from France and Italy 1963 Jacques Anquetil (right) wins title to become first rider to win Vuelta, Tour de France and Giro d’Italia 1984: Eric Caritoux defeats Alberto Fernández Blanco by six seconds, smallest margin of victory in Vuelta history 1987: Luis Herrera charges to victory becoming first South American cyclist to win Grand Tour title 1994 Swiss Tomy Rominger becomes first man to win three consecutive Vueltas 1995: 50th edition marks move to September date to avoid clash with other Grand Tours 1997: Tour departs from Lisbon, Portugal – first time race starts outside of Spain 2005 Roberto Heras (below) becomes first four-time winner 2013: American Chris Horner, 41, becomes oldest winner 2021 Santiago de Compostela Set to host first climax outside Madrid since 2014 Sources: La Vuelta, Gracenote Pictures: AP, Getty Images, Newscom, Wikimedia Commons, Twitter © GRAPHIC NEWS