• La Vuelta 20 will take off from the Basque Country on Tuesday, the 20th of October – with the stage Irun – Arrate. Eibar – and will arrive in Madrid on Sunday, the 8th of November.
• Following the cancellation of La Vuelta 20’s official departure, originally going to be held in the Netherlands, Unipublic made the decision not to replace the first three stages, and consequently informed the UCI in the aim that the cycling regulatory body would be able to reorganise the calendar with a Vuelta consisting of 20 days, instead of the original 23.
• La Vuelta will take place one month after the Tour de France and three weeks after the UCI Road World Championships.

La Vuelta 20 has new dates, following today’s official announcement by the International Cycling Union (UCI). The Spanish tour will take off with the Irun – Arrate. Eibar stage on Tuesday the 20th of October, and will conclude in Madrid on Sunday, the 8th of November.

Due to the health crisis caused by COVID-19, Unipublic, organiser of La Vuelta, made the decision to cancel and not replace the official departure which was to take place in the provinces of Utrecht and North Brabant (Netherlands). Taking this into account, the UCI has reorganised the cycling calendar by exceptionally including a Vuelta with 18 stages, instead of the usual 21. This is a unique event as, since its 1986 edition, La Vuelta has always featured, at least, 21 days of competition.

The Director of La Vuelta, Javier Guillén, has highlighted his “satisfaction” with the new dates. “We have to try to turn this necessity into a virtue and to make the most of the opportunities available to us as a result of this new paradigm. We have a great position in the calendar and we hope to have an exceptional participation level”, emphasised Guillén.
La Vuelta will take place one month after the Tour de France (29th of August – 20th of September) and three weeks after the UCI Road World Championships in Switzerland (20th – 27th of September).

THE LATEST VUELTA
With these changes, La Vuelta 20 will be the latest edition in its history. Originally (1935) held during the months of April, May and June, Unipublic made the decision to move it to the end of summer in 1995. Up until now, its 2001 edition held the record for being the latest in the calendar. That year, the Spanish tour began on the 8th of September with an individual time trial in Salamanca and concluded with a linear stage in Madrid on the 30th of September.
More information about La Vuelta : www.lavuelta.com

Following the official announcement of the revised 2020 calendar for the UCI World Tour season, and having discussed with the world governing body of cycling the participation rules for UCI World Tour races; the organizers of La Vuelta have chosen the teams that will take part in the 75th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour. La Vuelta 20 will start on Tuesday the 20th of October and finish on Sunday the 8th of November, from Irún to Madrid.

In accordance with UCI rules, the following 19 UCI World Teams are automatically invited to the race:

AG2R La Mondiale (FRA)
Astana Pro Team (KAZ)
Bahrain – McLaren (BHR)
Bora – Hansgrohe (GER)
CCC Team (POL)
Cofidis (FRA)
Deceuninck – Quick – Step (BEL)
EF Pro Cycling (USA)
Groupama – FDJ (FRA)
Israel Start-Up Nation (ISR)
Lotto Soudal (BEL)
Mitchelton – Scott (AUS)
Movistar Team (ESP)
NTT Pro Cycling Team (RSA)
Team Ineos (GBR)
Team Jumbo – Visma (NED)
Team Sunweb (GER)
Trek – Segafredo (USA)
UAE Team Emirates (UAE)

Furthermore, the Total Direct Energie Team, leader in the 2019 classification of UCI Pro Teams will take part by right in La Vuelta 20.

In addition to these 20 teams, the organizers have awarded the following wildcards:

Burgos – BH (ESP)
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA (ESP)

@ASO/Unipublic