The Vuelta a España is cut to 18 stages and will start in the Basque Country

Lap 20 was originally to be held between August 14 and September 6

30 April 2020Updated on April 30, 2020

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Lap 20 will have 18 stages — Image of the climb to a port in the Basque Country

The organization La Vuelta, in agreement with the UCI (International Cycling Union), has agreed to postpone the 75th edition of the race.

La Vuelta was originally to be held between August 14 and September 6, departing from the Netherlands. but it has been forced by the global health crisis caused by COVID-19, to change plans

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It will be held in Autumn, but the dates are not known

Vuelta 20 will be held in autumn, on dates yet to be determined, it will have 18 stages and will start in the Basque Country.

After the cancellation of the official departure of La Vuelta 20 from the Netherlands, the organization has replaced the initial three stages that were to be disputed in the Dutch towns of Utrecht and North Brabant for n the Irun - Arrate stage. Eibar.

This has been communicated to the UCI with the aim that the body responsible for regulating cycling sport can work on the reorganization of the calendar with the exceptional variable of a 20-day Tour and not with the 23 initially planned.

This decision has been motivated by the exceptional situation that the health crisis has produced in all areas, including sports.

“It is obvious that when you design the race, you do not expect not to have to make changes of this magnitude, but we have to be sensitive to the current situation and we have to assume that it is very difficult to substitute an official start at this point for all the institutional planning and logistics that it implies”, pointed out the director of La Vuelta, Javier Guillén.

An edition for history

With this new configuration, the 75th edition of La Vuelta will be marked as a historic race in many ways.

It will be the first time in the last 35 years that it has less than 21 stages. The last time this circumstance occurred was in 1985, in an edition that had 19 stages.

Almost 5 decades without starting in the Basque Country

Likewise, for the first time since Unipublic took the reins of the race in 1979, La Vuelta will start in the Basque Country.

Euskadi wore cso five decades without hosting a first stage of the carrerto. In 1961, La Vuelta started in San Sebastián, with a team time trial starting and finishing in the city of San Sebastian.

“Counting from day one with the passion for cycling that is lived in the Basque Country it makes this change of plans more enjoyable”, added Guillén.

“In any case, we only hope that this unprecedented health crisis is resolved soon, that we can all return to normality, also La Vuelta – which will be reunited in 2021 with its traditional format and duration 21 stages and two rest days”, he concluded.