Hold the date. The official unveiling of the 2025 Vuelta a España route has been set for December 19 in Madrid. An opening segment in northern Italy is all but confirmed for the 90th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour, while finishes in Andorra and on the Angliru are also currently rumoured to form part of the route.
Traditionally, the Vuelta is the last of the Grand Tours to reveal its full 21 stages for the following year. However, even if the corresponding Giro d'Italia presentation has been delayed from its initial November 12 date, given that the Tour de France route publication went ahead on October 29, that will likely prove to be the case for the respective 2025 courses.
The 2025 men's Vuelta is set to start and finish almost a week later than in 2024, running next summer from August 24 to September 15.
Cyclingnews understands that the La Vuelta Femenina route for 2025 is not due to be published on December 19. The women's race is due to run from May 5 to May 11 next year.
After Utrecht in 2022, Lisbon in 2024 and with a start in Monaco set for 2026, 2025 will bring the Vuelta's third of four foreign Grand Départs so far this decade and the first time the Spanish Grand Tour has begun in Italy.
The formal confirmation of the 2025 start in the northwesterly Italian region of Piedmont remains pending. But it is expected later this month, possibly as soon as November 17.
Almost all the details of the first three stages have already been leaked, in any case, and local Italian media have reported that €7 million has been earmarked for the Grand Depart in the 2025 and 2026 regional council budgets. Anything but a stage 1 start for the 2025 Vuelta in the Venaria Reale suburb of the regional capital, Turin, next August 24, then, would constitute a major surprise.
From thereon, the Vuelta will likely begin with a bunch sprint stage to the city of Novara on the opening day, the first of its trademark uphill finishes at Ceres on stage 3 and then a stage 4 start in the western Piedmont town of Bussoleno. By that point, all areas of the Piedmont region will have been visited by the Vuelta, according to local reports, and the race will also be ideally placed for the long haul through France back to Spain.
Exactly how the Vuelta will make its way across the neighbouring country, though, remains to be seen. The organisers are anything but averse to lengthy road transfers, as both race followers and riders know only too well from the mammoth drives that featured during this year's event. But there are rumours that there could be a direct flight, too, back from Italy or even a rest day.
What does seem likely is that – given its geographical proximity – the start in Italy and, perhaps, France, will be followed by multiple stages in Catalunya. The well-informed daily El Periódico has already claimed that in 2025 there will be at least one Vuelta stage in Catalunya and possibly up to three, with perhaps a summit finish on stage 5.
An early venture into the Pyrenees is all but certain to follow, as part of an incursion into the landlocked mountain mini-state of Andorra. Home to many professional bike riders, the local newspaper Diari d'Andorra has reports of a summit finish on Saturday, August 23 or Sunday, August 24, possibly on the Col de la Botella, an extension of the better-known climb to the ski station at Pal.
The highlight of the second week is strongly rumoured to be a return to the northerly mountains of the Picos de Europa, with La Nueva España reporting that both the Alto de la Farrapona and the Angliru are on the cards as possible summit finishes.
Last tackled in 2023, the Angliru – with its leg-breaking gradients and stretches above 20% – has a well-established reputation as Spain's toughest single climb. La Farrapona is much less well-known, given it was only first used in 2011 and last appeared in 2020, with the victory going to David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ). The climb's very difficult final 7km stretch, averaging 9% and rising relentlessly to around 12% in the closing segment, is no easy challenge.
Quite apart from the route, the biggest question looming over the 2025 Vuelta a España is if it will see the return of Tadej Pogačar to an event where he last raced in 2019, finishing third overall in his Grand Tour debut. If the UAE Team Emirates leader does return to Spain (via Italy) next August, he will be battling to take the only three-week race now missing from his palmares.
"There's a very good chance Pogačar will be there in 2025," race director Javier Guillén said recently. "We'd be delighted if he did make it, but whatever decision he takes, we'll respect."
Another Slovenian star who will likely be looking at the Vuelta a España 2025 route with boosted interest is Primoz Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Having equalled Roberto Heras' all-time record of four overall wins in 2024, next August could well see the Slovenian veteran fighting to move into a class of his own in the Spanish Grand Tour.
