La Vuelta España 2024: Guide to the Route, Stages, and Teams

Our guide is packed full of all the essential information you’ll need to follow along with the cycling action from Spain, including the top riders and teams, the route and stages, and how you can watch all the action unfold on TV. Read on to find out who might take the win this year; will it be 2023 winner Sepp Kuss from Team Jumbo-Visma again? 

Save the dates between August 17 to September 8, 2024 as these are the official start and end dates for the La Vuelta a España this year. 

Total distance: 3,265 kilometers 

Total number of stages: 21 

Rest days: 2 

Medium (mid) mountain stages: 5 

Mountain stages: 8 

Undulating stage: 5 

Flat stages: 1 

Individual time trials: 2 

Just like the Tour de France, La Vuelta a España mixes up where it starts every year. This year, the Vuelta world tour will begin in Lisbon, Portugal. The first stage will be an individual time trial, as riders take on 12 kilometers between Lisbon and Oeiras. Road bike racing remains in Portugal until day 4, which is when the first mountain stage takes place from Plasencia, Spain.  

The Vuelta a España has 21 stages split across three weeks. La Vuelta begins and ends with individual time trials, and has a range of other stages in between. With only one flat stage on day 5, the only other respite from the climbs comes between stages 9 and 10, and stages 15 and 16. These are the rest days scheduled between mountain stages on August 26 and September 2, 2024. 

With the first three stages taking place in Portugal, it isn’t until day 4 that La Vuelta is truly at home. By this point, the riders will already have ticked off 385 kilometers from the total distance of 3,265 kilometers, meaning there will still be another 2,880 kilometers left to attack on Spanish soil. 

The first week of La Vuelta has no breaks and spans between August 17 and August 23, 2024. The route this week features the only flat stage, and has two mountain stages too. In total, riders will cover a distance of 1,082 kilometers in this first week of La Vuelta, spanning two countries. The cycling will be aggressive, and competition will be fierce. 

• Stage 1 - Saturday 17 August: An individual time trial between Lisbon and Oeiras (12km) 
• Stage 2 - Sunday 18 August: An undulating stage from Cascais to Ourém (191km) 
• Stage 3 - Monday 19 August: A undulating stage from Lousã to Castelo Branco (182km) 

• Stage 4 - Tuesday 20 August: The first mountain stage from Plasencia to Villuercas Peak (167km) 
• Stage 5 - Wednesday 21 August: The only flat stage from Fuente del Maestre to Seville (170km) 
• Stage 6 - Thursday 22 August: A mountain stage from Jerez de la Frontera to Yunquera (181km) 
• Stage 7 - Friday 23 August: An undulating stage from Archidona to Córdoba. 

The second week of the world tour is exclusively Spanish, and runs from Saturday to Saturday due to a scheduled rest day on Monday 26 August. This week the route starts in southern Spain before moving to the north-west; the rest day taking place in between the location change. 

The end of the second week will mark the longest race distance in La Vuelta, with a mid mountain stage of 199 kilometers. Week two also boasts more total kilometers than the first week, at 1,164 kilometers in distance. 

• Stage 8 - Saturday 24 August: A mid mountain stage between Úbeda and Cazorla (159km) 
• Stage 9 - Sunday 25 August: A mountain stage from Motril to Grenada (178km) 
• Stage 10 - Tuesday 27 August: After the rest day, another mountain stage from Ponteareas to Baiona (160km) 
• Stage 11 - Wednesday 28 August: A mid mountain stage starting and finishing in Cortizo Technological Campus, Padrón (164km) 
• Stage 12 - Thursday 29 August: An undulating stage from Ourense Termal to Manzaneda Mountain Station (133km) 
• Stage 13 - Friday 30 August: A mountain stage from Lugo to Port of Ancares (171km) 
• Stage 14 - Saturday 31 August: The longest mid mountain stage from Villafranca del Bierzo to Villablino (199km) 

The final week of La Vuelta has the last 1,002 kilometers of the route for the riders to complete before the Spanish Grand Tour ends in Madrid. This week also has a rest day built in on Monday 2, September, meaning the racing takes place from Sunday to Sunday. 

• Stage 15 - Sunday 01 September: A mountain stage from Infiesto to Cuito Negro peak at Valgrande Pajares (142km) 
• Stage 16 - Tuesday 03 September: Another mountain stage between Luanco and the Lakes of Covadonga (181km) 
• Stage 17 - Wednesday 04 September: A mid mountain stage from the Juan de Castillo monument in Arnuero to Santander (143km) 
• Stage 18 - Thursday 05 September: A mid mountain stage from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Maeztu-Izki Natural Park (175km) 
• Stage 19 - Friday 06 September: An undulating stage from Logroño to Alto de Moncalvillo (168km) 
• Stage 20 - Saturday 07 September: The final mountain stage from Villarcayo to Picón Blanco (171km) 
• Stage 21 - Sunday 08 September: The second and final individual time trial from the Distrito Telefónica building to central Madrid (22km) 

If the cycling tour season goes to plan for each rider and team, the 2024 edition of La Vuelta should be just as thrilling as previous years. In accordance with UCI rules, 18 UCI WorldTeams have been automatically invited to the race, joined by the two leaders in the 2023 classification of UCI ProTeams, plus two wildcard teams, Israel - Premier Tech and Lotto Dstny. 

Last year’s winner Sepp Kuss from Team Jumbo-Visma will be back to defend his title, but he’ll face stiff competition. Although UAE Team Emirates’ rider Tadej Pogačar has played it down in the media, there are rumours that he may try and target a Giro-Tour-Vuelta triple in 2024. 

Primož Roglič, three time winner of La Vuelta, will be racing in a new jersey this year with Bora. Moving away from Jumbo-Visma, he will have new teammates, but will also be competing against his previous allies too. It is likely he will come up against Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard too in his attempt to match Roberto Herras’s record four La Vuelta titles. 

The race is nothing without the equipment, and you will spot Canyon racing bikes used by riders at Movistar Team and Alpecin-Deceuninck, including the high-performance Canyon Aeroad, Speedmax, and Ultimate models, trusted by athletes to propel them towards victory on the challenging terrain of La Vuelta España.

The biggest news from Movistar Team is that they welcome back Nairo Quintana to the team after four years apart, who will be riding in the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta. He will be led by Enric Mas who will be riding in La Vuelta, and the Tour de France earlier in the season. 

At Alpecin-Deceuninck, much of the team information is still yet to be revealed for 2024, with only Conci confirmed for the Giro d’Italia, and Philipsen confirmed for the Tour de France. More information will be released throughout the year ahead of the start of the Vuelta Ciclista. 

La Vuelta a España will be aired live on television, and will also be available to stream online from Eurosport. Viewers from Spain will be able to watch the action and results through the public channel Teledeporte which earned the rights for another year. 

In North America, FloBikes will also be streaming the Vuelta 2024 cycling stages through their website or apps. This service requires a subscription, which is a good idea to set up ahead of time so you can maximize your time watching the racing. 

As the full list of riders is still incomplete, there could still be a surprise winner of La Vuelta 2024. One rider unlikely to take part this year is 2022 winner Remco Evenepoel, who has targeted the Tour de France as the focus of his 2024 program. 

Just some of the riders in the mix for a win include Pogačar, Roglič, or 2023 winner Sepp Kuss from Team Jumbo-Visma. Stay tuned for the results.