Vuelta a Espana

The Vuelta a España 2024, the 79th edition of the race, will be the final Grand Tour of the season, with the race following the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the WorldTour calendar.

The 2024 race includes just one flat stage, and promises to pack in the climbing, with two short time trials bookending the race, which opens in Lisbon, Portugal on 17 August. 

Sepp Kuss, the American cyclist who won the general classification in 2023, has stated his aim to race again in 2024, pairing the Spanish stage race with the Tour de France. 

Here's all you need to know ahead of the last Grand Tour of the season. 

• Sepp Kuss: 'I can fight for the Grand Tours. I can be with the best guys'
• Vuelta a España 2024 route: Sprinters beware, there is just one flat stage

Vuelta a España 2024: Overview

Vuelta a España 2024: The route

The Vuelta a España 2024 route brings the mountains to centre stage once again. The first stage in Lisbon and the last stage in Madrid will be short individual time trials. Between the two ITTs, there is only one day for the sprinters, which comes early in the race, on day five. 

Vuelta a España 2024: Stage-by-stage

Vuelta a España: The jerseys

The red jersey of the Vuelta's general classification leader is now well established (it was previously gold, but changed in 2010). The leader of the mountains classification wears a polka-dot jersey, but its large blue spots mean it's very different to the one that riders in the Tour de France wear. The points leader's green jersey is lime green, while the jersey for best young rider (born after 1 January 1998), is white – familiar from the Tour de France.

There are other awards on offer as well, including the teams classification and a daily combativity award. Embellished jersey numbers, rather than jerseys, are on offer for this.

Riders in the general classification in particular will be interested in the bonus seconds that are available throughout the race. There are 10, 6 and 4 seconds for finishing first, second and third on a stage, plus 3, 2 and 1 seconds at nine different intermediate sprints throughout the race and 10 separate bonus uphill sprints.

Vuelta a España 2024: The teams

There will be 22 teams riding the 2024 Vuelta a España, including all 18 WorldTour teams and four second-tier ProTeams. Full details are yet to be confirmed.

Vuelta a España: Past winners

2013: Chris Horner (USA) RadioShack–Leopard
2014: Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff–Saxo
2015: Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana
2016: Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
2017: Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky
2018: Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton–Scott
2019: Primož Roglič (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
2020: Primož Roglič (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
2021: Primož Roglič (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
2022: Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl
2023: Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma