Vuelta a Espana organizers Unipublic have presented the course for the 2016 edition of the Spanish grand tour. Following the tradition of recent editions, it will be a very mountainous affair with no less than 10 summit finishes while the time triallists will have a chance to gain time in the opening team time trial and the individual test two days before the finish in Madrid.

 

In the past, the Vuelta a Espana was known for its many sprint stages that saw the riders spend several hours travelling along flat roads in remote areas of the country on the Iberian Peninsula. The many dull stages partly contributed to its position at the bottom of the grand tour hierarchy.

 

In recent years, organizers have made a clear decision: their race is one for the climbers. While the Giro d’Italia has reduced the extreme toughness of their courses in recent years, the Spanish race has gone in the opposite direction by introducing more uphill finishes and the three latest editions have all had around ten stages that included a climb at the finish.

 

For the 2016 edition, Unipublic had made it clear that the inclusion of a mountainous Olympic road race in the schedule of most of the grand tour stars would prompt them to make their race a bit easier. However, they have stayed loyal to their new principles and when they unveiled the full course in Santiago de Compostela today, they had found room for no less than 10 summit finishes.

 

In general, the 2016 edition of the race will be very similar to what we have seen in recent years. The many uphill finishes will give the upper hand to the climbers and there won’t be much room for the sprinters. Like last year the time trialling will be reduced to a team and an individual time trial and even though the latter is a bit hillier than last year’s very flat affair in Burgos, it should allow the heavier guys to gain time on the pure climbers.

 

Another interesting characteristic is the fact that the first half of the race will clearly be the hardest. While the Giro and the Tour often have a very hard third week, the challenges are usually distributed a lot more evenly in the Vuelta. Unlike last year, there will be significant summit finishes in the third week but there is little doubt that the final third of the race is the easiest when it comes to the amount of climbing. In fact, the mountainous areas of Asturias and the Pyrenees will all be visited in the first two weeks before the race heads south.

 

Finally, the race won’t visit the entire country. In recent years, the very hot region of Andalusia has hosted a significant number of stages but the region will be missing in 2015. In fact, two third of the race will be held in the northern part of the country while the final week will see the race travel to the eastern part of the peninsula before it heads to Madrid for the finish. The entire southern part will have to wait another year to host stages.

 

The race will start in Galicia as it did in 2013, with the region returning to the race after it was missing in 2015. As it has become a tradition, the first stage will be a flat team time trial but this year’s distance of 29km means that bigger time gaps can be made. The first road stage includes some significant climbing but should suit the sprinters.

 

The climbers will get their first chance in stage 3 which finishes on the brutally steep Mirador de Ezaro ramp where Joaquim Rodriguez took a memorable stage win in 2012. Stage 4 offers another summit finish on a gentler category 2 climb before the pure sprinters get an opportunity in stage 5. The Galician adventure ends with two rolling stages that should suit the strong sprinters.

 

The riders will leave Galicia and head to the west for the first major summit finish of the race at La Camperona in stage 8. It’s another extremely steep climb where Chris Froome dropped Alberto Contasdor in 2014 and Ryder Hesjedal rode to a stage win. It should allow the first big time gaps to be opened. It is the first of four consecutive summit finishes as the riders will tackle the easier Alto de Naranco on stage 9. The famous climb which has had its own one-day race in the past, was last visited in 2013 when Chris Horner dropped Vincenzo Nibali and Rodriguez took a long-awaited stage win. The series continues with the famous uphill finish on Lagos de Covadonga which was last conquered by Przemyslaw Niemiec in 2014.

 

The first rest day comes on the second Tuesday of the race but there won’t be much chance to recover for the GC riders as it is straight back into climbing mode. In the past, the race has often had three consecutive summit finishes in the third weekend but this year the organizers have taken another step as the time around the second weekend will be the scene of four uphill finishes in a row. The final challenge will be the short, steep Pena Cabarga climb which saw Chris Froome take his first ever grand tour stage win after a memorable battle with Juan Jose Cobo in 2011 and where Vasil Kiryienka rode to victory in 2014.

 

In stage 12, the race will make a return to the Basque Country and the city of Bilbao where Igor Anton took a very popular home win in 2011. Like that year the stage will end with two laps of circuit with the Vivero climb and it looks like a day for a breakaway. The next stage is a similar lumpy affair with numerous climbs and as the final summit comes just 5km from the downhill finish, the GC riders may even try to attack each other.

 

As usual, the penultimate weekend will be a tough one and it will kick off with a tough stage in the Pyrenees. It will finish with a mountaintop finish in France on the famous Col d’Aubisque which last hosted  a grand tour stage finish in 2007 when Michael Rasmussen claimed a famous stage victory in the Tour, only to be taken out of the race a few hours later. One day later, the riders will face the much easier Formigal climb where Warren Barguil took his second stage win in marvelous grand tour debut in 2013. Unlike recent editions, 2016 will have no third consecutive uphill finish at this point as the next stage should give the sprinters their first opportunity since stage 7.

 

The final rest day will again come on a Tuesday before the riders head into the final five stages that include three days for the GC riders and two for the sprinters. The first challenge is the uphill finish on the new Alto de los Mas Costa which is another short but very steep climb, with 22% sections set to suit the really explosive climbers. The sprinters should get an opportunity in stage 18 before the time triallists will have their only chance in the 39km individual test on stage 19. There is a bit of climbing in the first half but it is a mostly flat affair. The GC will be decided on the penultimate stage where the riders will climb the Alto de Aitana which has not featured since 2009 when Damiano Cunego took a beautiful stage win. As it has mostly been the case, the race will end with a short, flat stage to Madrid where a climber is likely to be crowned Vuelta champion.

 

Stages

Stage 1 August 20, 2016 Balneario Laias - Castrelo de Mino 29.4 km
Stage 2 August 21, 2016 Ourense - Baiona 159 km
Stage 3 August 22, 2016 Marin - Mirador Ezaro 170 km
Stage 4 August 23, 2016 Betanzos - San Andre de Teixido 161 km
Stage 5 August 24, 2016 Viveiro - Lugo 170 km
Stage 6 August 25, 2016 Monforte de Lemos - Luintra 163 km
Stage 7 August 26, 2016 Maceda - Puebla de Sanabria 158.3 km
Stage 8 August 27, 2016 Villalpando - La Camperona 177 km
Stage 9 August 28, 2016 Cistierna - Alto de Naranco 165 km
Stage 10 August 29, 2016 Lugones - Lagos de Covadonga 186.6 km
Rest day August 30, 2016
Stage 11 August 31, 2016 Lastres - Pena Cabarga 168.6 km
Stage 12 September 01, 2016 Los Corrales de Buelna - Bilbao 193.2 km
Stage 13 September 02, 2016 Bilbao - Urdax 212.8 km
Stage 14 September 03, 2016 Urdax - Aubisque 195.6 km
Stage 15 September 04, 2016 Sabinanigo - Formigal 120 km
Stage 16 September 05, 2016 Alcaniz - Peniscola 158 km
Rest day 2 September 06, 2016
Stage 17 September 07, 2016 Castellon - Mas de la Costa 173.3 km
Stage 18 September 08, 2016 Requena - Gandia 191 km
Stage 19 September 09, 2016 Xabia - Calpe 39 km
Stage 20 September 10, 2016 Benidorm - Alto de Aitana 184.5 km
Stage 21 September 11, 2016 Las Rozas - Madrid 102.5 km