The route for the 2025 Vuelta a España has been revealed. Set to take place between Saturday 23rd August and Sunday 14th September 2025, the 80th edition of the Vuelta will send the riders from Turin to Madrid on a parcours littered with characteristically hilly profiles and just 26km of individual time-trials.
The Spanish Grand Tour will start in Italy with three (and a half) days scheduled to take place in Piemonte. The peloton then heads back onto Spanish soil on Stage 5 for a team time-trial before a set of first week mountain stages through the Pyrenees, including a summit finish in Andorra.
The brutal Angliru will be tackled during the second week of racing followed the day after by the Alto de La Farrapona on Stage 14. The final week will offer a bit of everything, with a 26km-long time-trial on Stage 18 and a final sting in the tail on Stage 20 at the Bola del Mundo. As has become traditional, the Vuelta will conclude with a sprint stage looped around Madrid.
After Slovenian Primož Roglič equalled the record for most Vuelta titles back in September, some contenders have already raised their hand to take part in the 2025 race. The reigning champion is expected to miss next year’s edition in favour of a Giro-Tour double. On the other hand, Tadej Pogačar has hinted that he will return to the Vuelta after making his Grand Tour debut there in 2019. Frequent podium finsher Enric Mas also expressed his Vuelta ambitions at Movistar’s team launch earlier this week.
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Vuelta a España 2025: Key information
- Dates: Saturday 23rd August to Sunday 14th September 2025
- Start: Turin, Italy
- Finish: Madrid, Spain
- Television coverage: Eurosport, Discovery+
- Most wins: Roberto Heras, Primož Roglič (four)
- 2024 winner: Primož Roglič
Vuelta a España 2025 route
The 2025 Vuelta a España will kick off in Piemonte, the Italian region just to the east of the Alpine border with France. This Gran Salida will see the Vuelta visit Italy for the first time in the race’s 90-year history. On top of this, the host region Piemonte will also host its third Grand Tour start in two years given the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia passed through here in 2024.
For the first time since the Covid-affected Vuelta in 2020, the Spanish race will begin with a road stage. Given its flat profile, this may give the sprinters a rare chance to pull on the maillot rojo. The mountains, however, come thick and fast – as they often do at the Vuelta – when the race turns to Limone (10km at 5%) for an early summit finish on Stage 2. The French border will be crossed with a passage through the Alps on Stage 4 before a long transfer back to Spain where the race will restart with a team time-trial around Figueres.
The Pyrenees will pose the next challenge on the route, with a mountaintop finish up to Pal Andorra (11km at 5%) on Stage 6 and Cerler the following day. The second weekend will take the riders through winemaking Rioja before Stage 9’s uphill finish to Valdezcaray (13km at 5%).
The climbing continues throughout the second week as the race moves towards the Bay of Biscay. After some hilly stages through the Basque Country, the race will confront the Angliru on Stage 13. This is then backed up by a stage up to the Alto de Farrapona (18km at 5.8%) just 24 hours later.
We move cross country for the final week, setting off from the northwest with a hilly stage followed by another high-altitude finish to Alto De El Morredero (23km at 5.2%). Time-trialing is on the agenda soon after with a 26km-long ITT on Stage 18. However, the GC hierarchy has one final chance to be rearranged before Madrid’s processional stage given the arrival of the hellish Bola del Mundo (21km at 6.3%) at the end of Stage 20. After that stinging GC finale, the riders will take to the streets of the Spanish capital for one final sprint stage.
In total, the pan-European route clocks up a total distance of 3,180km. According to the race organisers, the course covers four flat stages, six hilly stages, five mountain stages, three stages with hilly finales, one team time-trial and one individual time-trial. The course will pass through four countries, the joint record for the race.
Vuelta a España 2025 stage-by-stage preview
Stage 1: Saturday 23rd August, Turin (Reggia di Venaria) – Novara, 183km
The opening stage will offer a rare chance for the sprinters to contend for the red jersey. The day begins in Turin, the first capital city of a unified Italy, before winding its way to Novara. Tim Merlier won his first Grand Tour stage here in 2021 on the ten-year anniversary of Wouter Weylandt's death.
Stage 2: Sunday 24th August, Alba – Limone Piemonte, 157km
We head to the mountains on Stage 2 with a long drag to Limone. The climb is a moderate gradient at 5% over a 10km ascent. These numbers could point towards an open finale that could either end in a reduced group sprint or a flurry of optimistic attacks.
Stage 3: Monday 25th August, San Maurizio Canavese – Ceres, 139km
The final full day in Italy brings us a hilly profile suited for the breakaway. Antonia Niedermaier took a dramatic stage victory in Ceres at the 2023 Giro Donne on a day that saw Elisa Longo Borghini crash out on a descent. Let's hope nobody suffers the same fate here at the Vuelta.
Stage 4: Tuesday 26th August, Plasencia – Pico Villeurcas, 170.4km
Some wondered whether this stage would pass over the Col du Galibier, but alas we dodge it in favour of the Col de Montgenèvre. We brush past Alpe d'Huez with 75km to go, but the race will head out to Voiron, a town between Grenoble and Lyon.
Stage 5: Wednesday 27th August, Figueres – Figueres, 20km (TTT)
The team time-trial makes its Grand Tour return after a two year hiatus. This test will end with a climb in Figueres, hometown of artist Salvador Dalí.
Stage 6: Thursday 28th August, Olot – Pal (Andorra), 171km
Stage 6 will take the riders into the Pyrenees. For much of the peloton, these will be familiar roads. Many riders live in Andorra so they should have a home advantage when it comes down to the closing first category climb to Pal.
Stage 7: Friday 29th August, Andorra la Vella – Cerler/Huesca La Magia, 187km
We remain in Andorra for the start of Stage 7. Once over the border, the mountains start to appear with the tough Port del Cantó. The final climb up to Cerler hasn't been used before at either the Vuelta or the Volta a Cataluya.
Stage 8: Saturday 30th August, Monzón Templario – Zaragoza, 158km
Time for a sprint – one of the few on offer at this Vuelta. The last time a men's stage finished in Zaragoza, Juan Seba Molano took the honours. The Vuelta Femenina visited the Aragon capital last year on a hillier profile won by Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner.
Stage 9: Sunday 31st August, Alfaro – Valdezcaray, 195km
Stage 9's final climb up to the Valdezcaray ski station is 13km at an average gradient of 5%. It's not the toghest test on this Vuelta parcours, but it'll provide another chance for the climbers to stretch their legs.
Stage 10: Tuesday 2nd September, Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva – El Ferial Larra Belagua, 168km
After a well-deserved break, the racing gets underway in Sendaviva's zoo in the Navarra region. After a rolling stage through the region, the stage will conclude with a stunning climb up to El Ferial Larra Belagua on the French-Spanish border.
Stage 11: Wednesday 3rd September, Bilbao – Bilbao, 167km
We move into the Basque Country on Stage 11. The climbs of the Alto del Vivero and the Alto de Pike were used back on Stage 1 of the 2023 Tour de France won by UAE Team Emirates's Adam Yates. These climbs are short kickers, so the puncheurs should have relish the opportunity to stand out here.
Stage 12: Thursday 4th September, Lareo – Los Corrales de Buelna, 143km
We continue to follow the Bay of Biscay on Stage 12 with a hilly stage through Cantabria. A Vuelta stage hasn't finished in Los Corrales de Buelna since 1999. It's long overdue a return.
Stage 13: Friday 5th September, Cabezón de la Sal – L'Angliru, 202km
The GC will get shaken up on Stage 13 with a fearsome final climb up to the Angliru. This monster of a mountain is 13km in length and averages out at just over 9% in gradient, however some parts of the climb reach 20% in the final 3km. The Angliru has seen plenty of big Vuelta battles over the years, most recently in 2023 when Jumbo-Visma cruelly dropped their leader Sepp Kuss.
Stage 14: Saturday 6th September, Villafranca del Bierzo– Alto de la Farrapona, 135km
There's no rest for the wicked in this race. The 18km-long climb to the Farrapona's peak is relentless and testing. David Gaudu managed to tame its slopes back in 2020, beating Marc Soler to stage honours.
Stage 15: Sunday 7th September, A Viega/Vegaedo – Monforte de Lemos, 167km
Stage 15, the final on offer in this second week of racing, starts off in Vegaedo. This village is one of the few Eonavian-speaking places in the region, hence the two town names. The climbing starts right away, so the breakaway might be successful once the race reaches its conclusion in Monforte de Lemos.
Stage 16: Tuesday 9th September, Poio – Mos. Castro de Herville, 172km
The racing resumes for its final week in Poio, Galicia. The final climb of Castro de Herville might sound familiar – it was used back in 2021 on a tumultuous day that saw Miguel Ángel López shockingly abandon the race following a disagreement with his Movistar bosses.
Stage 17: Wednesday 10th September, O Barco de Valdeorras – Alto De El Morredero, 137km
Stage 17 offers the penultimate summit finish of the 2025 race. That final challenge up to El Morredero is 23km long and at an average gradient of 5.3%. These stats are deceiving as the slopes reach 12% gradients at points. It's been 19 years since the last race finish atop this peak close by to the pilgrimage town of Ponferrada.
Stage 18: Thursday 11th September, Valldolid – Valldolid, 26km (ITT)
The Vuelta's only individual time-trial is 26km in length and on a flat profile. In terms of local history, explorer Christopher Colombus died in the stage's host city of Valladolid.
Stage 19: Friday 12th September, Rudea – Guijeulo, 159km
Stage 19 tables a tame profile that could favour a sprinter or a breakaway.
Stage 20: Saturday 13th September, Villarcayo – Picón Blanco, 172km
The final GC day takes the riders through the Sierra de Guadarrama to the northwest of Madrid. The final test on the stage, the Bola del Mundo ('Ball of the World'), is one of the toughest climbs of the whole Vuelta. It reaches double digit gradients in the final 5km, taking riders up to slopes of 20% at its nastiest. They saved the best for last it seems.
Stage 21: Sunday 14th September, Alparado – Madrid, 101km
There's only 30km between Alaparado and the beginning of the Madrid circuit. That doesn't give so much time for the red jersey to sip on their victory glass of Cava.
To learn about the current rumours for the Giro d’Italia parcours, check out our full run-down of Grand Tour 2025 rumours
