Bilbao will not only host a stage finish in the 2016 Vuelta a Espana but will host a start, on September 1 and 2 respectively. The City Council has confirmed the news.

The Vuelta will return to Bilbao five years after the triumph of Igor Anton who rode for the local Euskaltel-Euskadi team in the 2011 edition of the race. "The images of Igor Anton escaping on the Vivero climb and arriving solo on Gran Via are still in our memory," recalled Juan Maria Aburto, mayor of Bilbao.

The race will arrive in Bilbao on September 1 at the end of the 12th stage which starts in Corrales de Buelna (Cantabria). One day later the race will start from the Basque city and travel to Urdax (Navarra).

Aburto even goes further. "The next goal is a Tour stage," he announced to the media on Wednesday.