Five talking points from stage four of the Vuelta a España 2020
Bennett continues his fine form this season
Vuelta a España
Primož Roglič and Alejandro Valverde on stage 15 of the Vuelta a España 2019 (Luis Angel Gomez/Getty)
When: October 20 – November 8 2020
Where: Spain
UCI category: WorldTour
Key links: Route | Start list | TV Guide
The Vuelta a España is the third and final Grand Tour of the season, and the Spanish race always provides an exciting finale to the year for GC specialists.
Renowned for its testing parcours and plethora of summit finishes, the Vuelta represents an immense challenge and several riders have tried and failed to win it in the same season as another Grand Tour.
The 2020 route is a bit different to recent years as the race has been shortened from 21 stages to 18 stages due to restrictions made in the global pandemic.
The race itself will still be exciting but will be slim pickings for sprinters with only four days for them and eight summit finishes including stage one, along with one individual time-trial.
The race will start in the Basque Country town of Irun and finishing at the top of the famous Arrate climb above Eibar.
Other notable stages include summit finishes up the Col du Tourmalet in France, Alto de l’Angliru and the Alto de la Covatilla and a 33.5km time trial, which of course, also finishes up a sharp climb.
Vuelta a España: 2020 route
Vuelta a España route map 2020
The Vuelta a España 2020 route starts in the Basque Country with a typically difficult stage to the famous climb of Arrate above Eibar.
The sprinters will have to wait until stage four for their first chance at a bunch gallop to the line.
Huge mountains await, though with the Arrate and Aramón Formigal in week one and the Spanish beasts that are the Farrapona, Angliru and Covatilla all wait in the second and third weeks.
Even the individual time trial finishes up a steep climb on stage 13 after about 30km of flat beforehand.
| Stage | Date | Start/Finish | Distance | Profile |
| 1 | Tuesday, October 20 | Irùn to Arrate-Eibar | 172.5km | Hilly |
| 2 | Wednesday, October 21 | Pamplona to Lekunberri | 151.6km | Hilly |
| 3 | Thursday, October 22 | Lodosa to La Laguna Negra de Vinuesa | 166.1km | Mountain |
| 4 | Friday, October 23 | Garray. Numancia to Ejea de los Caballeros | 191.7km | Flat |
| 5 | Saturday, October 24 | Huesca to Sabiñánigo | 184.4km | Hilly |
| 6 | Sunday, October 25 | Biescas to Aramón Formigal | 146.4km | Mountain |
| Rest Day | Monday, October 26 | Vitoria | — | |
| 7 | Tuesday, October 27 | Vitoria Gasteiz to Villanueva de Valdegovia | 159.7km | Hilly |
| 8 | Wednesday, October 28 | Logroño to Alto de Moncalvillo | 164km | Mountain |
| 9 | Thursday, October 29 | Castrillo del Val to Aguilar de Campoo | 157.7km | Flat |
| 10 | Friday, October 30 | Castro Urdiales to Suances | 185km | Flat |
| 11 | Saturday, October 31 | Villaviciosa to Alto de la Farrapona | 170km | Mountain |
| 12 | Sunday, November 1 | La Pola Llaviana to Alto de l’Angliru | 109.4km | Mountain |
| Rest day | Monday, November 2 | A Caruña | ||
| 13 | Tuesday, November 3 | Muros to Mirador de Ézaro Dumbría | 33.7km (ITT) | Time trial |
| 14 | Wednesday, November 4 | Lugo to Ourense | 204.7km | Flat |
| 15 | Thursday, November 5 | Mos to Puebla De Sanabria | 230.8km | Hilly |
| 16 | Friday, November 6 | Salamanca to Ciudad Rodrigo | 162km | Hilly |
| 17 | Saturday, November 7 | Sequeros to Alto de la Covatilla | 178.2km | Mountain |
| 18 | Sunday, November 8 | Hipódromo de la Zarzuela to Madrid | 124.2km | Flat |
Vuelta a España: past winners
2000 Roberto Herasdagger (Esp) Kelme–Costa Blanca
2001 Ángel Casero (Esp) Festina
2002 Aitor González (Esp) Kelme–Costa Blanca
2003 Roberto Heras (Esp) U.S. Postal Service
2004 Roberto Heras (Esp) Liberty Seguros
2005 Roberto Heras (Esp) Liberty Seguros–Würth
2006 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
2007 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
2008 Alberto Contador (Esp) Astana
2009 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Caisse d’Epargne
2010 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas–Doimo
2011 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky
2012 Alberto Contador (Esp) Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank
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) Jumbo-Visma
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