Date: Saturday August 23, 2025 - Sunday September 14, 2025
Start: Piedmont 
Finish: Madrid 
Total distance: 3,151 km
Stages: 21
Riders: 176
Teams: 22
Defending champion: Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)

Key information:

• Vuelta a España 2025 contenders
• Key climbs of the Vuelta a España 2025

VUELTA A ESPAÑA OVERVIEW 

The Vuelta a España, or La Vuelta, is one of cycling’s three Grand Tours, along with the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. Part of the UCI WorldTour, the three-week race is the most prestigious race in Spain and is now in its 80th edition. While it took time for the Vuelta to gain similar footing as the Tour and the Giro, overall victory at the race is a coveted prize that will often see the best riders in cycling go head-to-head to win. 

Like the other Grand Tours, the Vuelta is held over 21 individual stages with the general classification victory awarded to the rider with the lowest aggregated time at the end of the race. While the colour of the jersey for overall leader has changed numerous times throughout the race’s history, it made the switch from a yellow jersey to a red jersey in 2010 and has remained that way since. 

Although the Vuelta is similar in format to the Giro and the Tour, it still holds much of its own identity. The route, which changes every year, in recent editions has been defined by its aggressive amount of climbing, offering very little opportunity for stage wins to sprinters or rouleurs in the way of flat routes and time trials. 

Last year, Primož Roglič of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe won the Vuelta for the fourth time in his career, equaling the record for the most wins at the Spanish Grand Tour with Roberto Heras.

VUELTA A ESPAÑA ROUTE 2025

Route map from the Vuelta a España website

The race organisers of the Vuelta a España have given climbers of world cycling a welcome gift in the form of a typically mountainous edition of the race. Throughout the three-week race, there will be ten summit finishes in total, eight of them rated category one or above, most notably the infamous Alto de l’Angliru. 

Before they tackle the treacherous mountains in Spain, the race will visit both the other Grand Tour nations: Italy and France. The former follows its Grand Départ of the Tour de France this year with a flat stage, uphill finish and rolling stage, before the riders eventually cross the border into Spain on stage five via France.

From there the race will take place almost exclusively in northern terrain, the hot regions of Andalusia, Murcia and Extremadura overlooked entirely as the race never ventures further south than Madrid.  In between all the climbing stages will be an individual time, team time trial, some sprint stages and some for the puncheurs. But above all, this is a Vuelta for the climbers. 

See the race route stage-by-stage

Stage one: Torino-Reggia di Venaria to Novara / 200km
Stage two: Alba to Limone Peimonte / 157km
Stage three: San Maurizio Canavese to Ceres / 139km
Stage four: Susa to Voiron / 192km
Stage five: Figueres to Figueres / 20km TTT
Stage six: Olot to Pal. Andorra / 170km
Stage seven: Andorra la Vella to Cerler / 187km
Stage eight: Monzon Templario to Zaragoza / 187km
Stage nine: Alfaro to Estacion de Esqui de Valdezcaray / 195km
Stage 10: Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva to El Ferial Larra Belagua / 168km
Stage 11: Bilbao to Bilbao / 167km
Stage 12: Laredo to Los Corrales de Buelna / 143km
Stage 13: Cabezon de la Sal to L’Angliru / 202km
Stage 14: Aviles to Alto de la Farrapona / 135km
Stage 15: A Veiga/Vegadeo to Monforte de Lemos / 167km
Stage 16: Poio to Mos.Castro de Herville / 172km
Stage 17: O Barco de Valdeorras to Alto de el Morredero.Ponferrada / 137km
Stage 18: Valladolid to Valladolid / 26km ITT
Stage 19: Rueda to Guijuelo / 159km
Stage 20: Robledo de Chavela to Bola del Mundo / 156km
Stage 21: Alalpardo to Madrid / 101km