Key points :

• The winner of La Vuelta 19, Primoz Roglic, will wear bib number “1” in the official departure of La Vuelta 20 on the 20th of October in Irun.
• Jumbo-Visma will be participating with one of the strongest teams, and with Tom Dumoulin as co-leader along with other favourites including Enric Mas, Thibaut Pinot, Richard Carapaz and Chris Froome.
• Sam Bennett and Pascal Ackermann are the main candidates for sprint victories.

The list of pre-registered participants for the 75th edition of La Vuelta shows that the Tour de France favourites will be coming to Spain, starting with the winner of La Vuelta 19, Slovenian rider Primož Roglič, who was the big favourite to win the Grand Boucle from start to finish, before ceding the yellow jersey to his countryman Tadej Pogacar, in the second-last stage, just 24 hours from the arrival in Paris. He will be leading the Jumbo-Visma team featuring the strongest line-up with Tom Dumoulin as co-leader and his luxury team mates: Robert Gesink, George Bennett and Sepp Kuss. The latter won stage 15 of La Vuelta 19 in the summit of the Acebo Sanctuary.

Nans Peters (AG2R-La Mondiale), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team) and Dani Martinez (EF Pro Cycling), winners of mountain stages in the last Tour de France, are also pre-registered in La Vuelta 20, as are the protagonists of the Tour de France’s general classification: Enric Mas (5th), Tom Dumoulin (7th), Damiano Caruso (10th), Guillaume Martin (11th), Alejandro Valverde (12th), Richard Carapaz (13th) and Sepp Kuss (15th). For most of them, La Vuelta is a new chance to improve on this season’s performances.

La Vuelta is also a good opportunity to make amends for the frustrations they encountered during the Tour: Thibaut Pinot and his compatriot David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) and David de La Cruz (UAE Team Emirates), who began injured and ended up becoming one of the most valued collaborators of the final winner, Tadej Pogacar. The Tour de France revelation had already made an impression in last year’s edition of La Vuelta (3rd in the general classification and winner of three mountain stages).

Michael Woods (EF Pro Cycling) is feeling positive: 8th in the Tirreno-Adriático (and a stage win), 3rd in La Flèche Wallone and 7th in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The winner at the Balcón de Bizkaia summit in 2018 arrives fresh for La Vuelta, a race he particularly enjoys. Among those pre-registered are also great stage hunters such as Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-McLaren), leader for one day in La Vuelta 19, Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) and young prodigies such Andrea Bagioli and Mauri Vansevenant (Deceuninck-Quick Step).

There are two stars among the pre-registered sprinters: Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step), the man who dethroned Peter Sagan in the battle for the green jersey in the Tour de France, and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe), winner of the points classification in the Giro 2019, during his very first participation in a Grand Tour. Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates), Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) and Magnus Cort (Astana Pro Team) are among the candidates to challenge the supremacy of these two sprinters.
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Puebla de Sanabria and Salamanca will take over from Porto. Mastosinhos and Viseu as the hosts of stages 15 and 16 of La Vuelta 20, respectively. Puebla de Sanabria will be the finish-line of stage 15, with a departure from Mos. Salamanca will host the departure of stage 16, with the finish-line in Ciudad Rodrigo and the entire day taking place within the Province of Salamanca.
Due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 global health crisis and, following the impossibility of hosting La Vuelta 20 in Portugal under the best possible conditions, Unipublic has reconfigured the race’s route, replacing the two Portuguese host cities by Spanish ones.
Stage 15 (5/11) will depart from the Galician town of Mos and will find its finish-line in the Zamoran municipality of Puebla de Sanabria, replacing Porto. Matosinhos. On the other hand, Salamanca will be the departure point for stage 16 (6/11), replacing the Portuguese locality of Viseu, in a stage that will maintain its finish-line in Ciudad Rodrigo.
Puebla de Sanabria and Salamanca already have La Vuelta experience. The Zamoran locality was the finish-line for stage 7 in La Vuelta 16, where victory went to Belgian rider Jonas van Genechten. Salamanca has hosted 21 La Vuelta stage departures, the most recent one being in 2018 (stage 10), leaving from its Plaza Mayor (Main Plaza), and providing an iconic image in the history of La Vuelta.
TWO VERY DEMANDING STAGES
These changes will not only affect the host cities but also the stage profiles. Stage 15 will now become the edition’s longest stage, spanning over 234,6 km. “Judging by the type of route and by the length of the stage, it will be a favourable day for escapes to take place”, explained Fernando Escartín, Technical Director of La Vuelta. “It is a winding terrain and it’ll be difficult for the peloton to control those breakaways. Besides, contrary to what happened in 2016, this time Puebla de Sanabria will feature in the final week of the race, meaning teams will have much less energy”.
In the 16th stage, the third-last day of racing, Escartín focuses on the climb of El Robledo (Casares): “A 1st category climb 30 km from the finish-line will create a natural selection of the peloton. It is likely that a reduced group, made up of 30-40 riders, will arrive together. The riders fighting for GC will have to really concentrate, as a mistake so close to the end could cost them dearly”, he warns.

• 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

Key points:

• La Vuelta 20 will take off from the Basque Country with the stage Irun – Arrate. Eibar – and will end up in Madrid.
• Following the cancellation of La Vuelta 20’s official departure, originally going to be held in the Netherlands, Unipublic has decided not to replace the first three stages, and has consequently informed the UCI and the RFEC (Royal Federation of Spanish Cycling) 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.
• With this new configuration, the 75th edition of La Vuelta will be a historical one. 18 stages in total: the first one in the Basque Country, almost five decades later.

The La Vuelta organisation, in accordance with the UCI (International Cycling Union), agreed to delay the race’s 75th edition. La Vuelta 20 was originally going to take place from the 14th of August to the 6th of September, departing from the Netherlands. However, the necessary reorganisation of the annual cycling calendar, due to the global health crisis caused by COVID-19, has forced these plans to change. In the end, La Vuelta 20 – whose new dates haven’t been determinate by the UCI yet – will consist of 18 stages and will take off from the Basque Country.

Following the official cancelation of La Vuelta 20’s official departure from the Netherlands, Unipublic, as the race organiser, has decided not to replace the three first stages – which were going to travel through the Dutch regions of Utrecht and North Brabant – and instead begin the Spanish tour with the Irun – Arrate. Eibar stage. This is what has been communicated to the UCI in the aim that the cycling regulatory body could be able to reorganise the calendar with a Vuelta consisting of 20 days, instead of the original 23.
This decision has been motivated by the exceptional situation brought about by the health crisis currently affecting every industry, including sports. “Obviously, when you design the race, you hope to never have to make changes of this magnitude, but we have to be sensible with the current situation and we have to accept that it is very difficult to replace an official departure at this late stage, given all the institutional and logistic planning that it involves”, stated Javier Guillén, Director of La Vuelta.

A HISTORICAL EDITION
With its new configuration, La Vuelta’s 75th edition will be a historical race in many aspects. It will be the first time in the past 35 years that it consists of fewer than 21 stages. The last time this happened was in 1985, with an edition featuring 19 stages. It will also be the first time since Unipublic took over control of the race in 1979 that La Vuelta will take off from the Basque Country. It has been almost five decades since Euskadi last hosted the race’s official departure. In 1961, La Vuelta took off from San Sebastián, with a team time trial featuring both the starting-line and finish-line in the city.
“To have that passion for cycling that is so present in the Basque Country from the very first day makes this change in plans much more pleasant”, added Guillén. “In any case, we only hope that this unprecedented health crisis is resolved soon, that we can all return to normal, including La Vuelta – that will again consist of its traditional format and duration of 21 stages and two rest days in 2021”, he concluded.
More information about La Vuelta : www.lavuelta.com
@Unipublic/ASO

Key points:

• The official departure of La Vuelta 20 that was going to take place in the Dutch regions of Utrecht and North Brabant is cancelled.
• The exceptional worldwide situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the organising committee of La Vuelta Holanda and Unipublic to cancel the official departure.
• Both parties are already working towards resuming the La Vuelta official departure from the Netherlands project, using the year 2022 as a potential start date.

La Vuelta 20 will not take off from the Netherlands. Due to the exceptional situation caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the organising committee of La Vuelta Holanda has been forced to cancel the official departure of the race from the Dutch regions of Utrecht and North Brabant.
The local organisation committee and Unipublic have been forced to make this decision as a result of the reorganisation of the 2020 cycling calendar announced by the UCI (International Cycling Union) on the 15th of April and due to the measures that have recently been implemented by the Dutch government forbidding the celebration of sporting events until the 1st of September. All of this now places the celebration of La Vuelta after the Cycling World Championships and not during its original dates (14th of August – 6th of September).

Despite both parties’ wishes to try to maintain the official departure from Utrecht, it has not been possible to find a new date in which to hold said project, given the new constraints. “The departure of La Vuelta 20 from Holland was a project that had been designed as a big summer party. Faced with the impossibility of ensuring the planned development of the race’s official departure, with all of the required guarantees for an event of these characteristics, La Vuelta Holanda has preferred to request the official departure’s cancellation”, they have stated.

La Vuelta Holanda Director, Martijn van Hulsteijn: „It is clear that there is great disappointment in Utrecht, Breda, ’s-Hertogenbosch and the provinces of Utrecht and Noord-Brabant. We were ready to organize a fantastic event in the weekend of the 14th, 15th and 16th of August. Since we heard of the change in the UCI calendar, we have discussed with all parties to find out if the start in the autumn would be possible, but it turned out to be too difficult of an assignment. Moving three stages, on three days, through 34 municipalities with start and finish places in various places turned out to be a bridge too far. For example, we did not have all the needed infrastructures at our disposal. In addition, a lot of road works were carried out around the 34 participating municipalities in the autumn. The impact would be too great. Even if you leave the desirability and uncertainty in Corona time out of the discussion“.

Jan van Zanen, mayor of Utrecht, on behalf of the three cities and two provinces involved in the organization of the official start: „We were all looking forward to celebrate a Spanish fiesta in all the participating municipalities. But it turns out not be technically feasible and we have concluded there is too much uncertainty about the development of the coronavirus. A huge disappointment, but health comes first.”

“The change to the calendar resulted in a modification of the original program. We discussed this with our Dutch partners, with whom we have worked in absolute harmony and in complete collaboration. We realised that it would be impossible to carry out this project under these new constraints”, explained the General Director of Unipublic, Javier Guillén. “It is a complicated decision, one you never want to make, but which we have found ourselves compelled to do due to the complex circumstances we are currently living, which surpass any foreseeable expectation”, he added.
LA VUELTA 22 ON THE HORIZON
Unipublic and La Vuelta Holanda are working on the possibility of the Netherlands hosting the official departure in the very near future. The first potential start date being discussed for the country to host the La Vuelta departure is 2022, but with no certainties. In this sense, Javier Guillén has insisted that resuming the departure from Holland is “a priority” for the organisation. “We have seen so much enthusiasm and a very high degree of involvement. It is a pleasure to work like this. The very least we can do is to begin exploring the possibility of departing from the Netherlands in the near future, and we trust that we will be able to do so as soon as possible”, he specified.

More information about La Vuelta : www.lavuelta.com
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