Wait for the Schedule The route for the 2025 Vuelta a España will be officially announced in Madrid on December 19. The opening section of the 90th Spanish Grand Tour is almost certain to be in northern Italy, with rumors of finishes in Andorra and Angliru.

Traditionally, the Vuelta is the last of the Grand Tours to announce all 21 stages for the following year. However, even if the Giro d'Italia's announcement was postponed from its original date of November 12, given that the Tour de France route announcement was made on October 29, it is likely that the 2025 individual courses will be as well.

The 2025 men's Vuelta will start and finish almost a week later than in 2024, running from August 24 to September 15 next summer.

According to Cyclingnews, the route for the 2025 La Vuelta Femenina will not be announced until December 19. The women's race is scheduled to run from May 5 to May 11 next year.

After starting in Utrecht in 2022, Lisbon in 2024, and Monaco in 2026, 2025 will be the third of four overseas Grand Departs in the past decade for the Vuelta, and the first time a Spanish Grand Tour will start in Italy.

An official decision to host the 2025 event in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy is still pending. However, it is expected to take place later this month, as early as November 17.

In any case, almost all details of the first three stages have already been leaked, and local Italian media are reporting that €7 million has been earmarked for the Grande Pearl in the 2025 and 2026 regional council budgets.The first stage of the 2025 Vuelta will take place next big surprise, except that it will start on August 24 in Venaria Reale, near Turin.

Thereafter, the Vuelta will begin with a mass sprint stage to the city of Novara on day one, a trademark uphill finish in Ceres on stage three, and the start of stage four in the western Piedmont town of Bussoleno. According to reports from the region, all of Piedmont will have been visited by the Vuelta at this point, and the race will be ideally positioned for the long trip back to Spain from France.

It remains to be seen how the Vuelta will traverse the neighboring countries. The organizers never like long road trips. Race fans and riders alike are well aware of the extensive travel involved in this event. However, there are rumors that there may be a direct flight back from Italy, or even a rest day.

What seems more likely is that, due to the geographical proximity, multiple stages will take place in Catalonia, following the start in Italy and perhaps France. The well-informed daily El Periódico already claims that in 2025 there will be at least one Vuelta stage in Catalunya, up to three, and possibly a summit finish on the fifth stage.

An early foray into the Pyrenees is almost certain as part of an invasion of the small inland mountainous country of Andorra. The local newspaper Diari Andorra reported that the summit finish could come on Saturday, August 23 or Sunday, August 24. [La Nueva España reports that both Alto de la Farrapona and Angril are likely to have summit finishes.

Angril, last attempted in 2023, has a gradient of over 20% and has a reputation as the toughest single climb in Spain. La Farrapona is not well known, as it was first used in 2011 and was last disused in 2020 when David Gaudou (Groupama-FDJ) won the race. The very difficult last 7km climb, which averages 9% and rises relentlessly to about 12% in the final section, is no easy challenge.

Apart from the route, the biggest question standing in the way of the 2025 Vuelta a España is whether we will see the return of Tadej Pogachar, who last competed in 2019 and finished third overall in his Grand Tour debut. If the leader of UAE Team Emirates returns to Spain next August (via Italy), he will fight to get the only three weeks of racing currently missing from his credit.

“It is very likely that Pogachar will be there in 2025,” race director Javier Guigen said recently.

“But whatever decision he makes, we will respect it.”

Another Slovenian star who may be increasing his interest in the 2025 Vuelta a España route is Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), the Slovenian veteran who tied Roberto Heras' record of four total wins in 2024, He will be fighting for a class of his own next August in the Spanish Grand Tour.