OFFICIAL: First stages of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana have been announced with race set to begin in Italy

The first three stages of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana have been announced, and the race organisers have confirmed that the Spanish grand tour will begin in Piedmont, Italy. Last year, the race began in Portugal, and the Vuelta a Espana is beginning to follow the Tour de France’s tradition of holding the first three stages in a different country. In a press conference attended by the Vuelta organisers, the mayor of Turin, and the president of the Piedmont region in Italy, the three Italian stages of the race were announced.

This will be the 80th edition of the Vuelta a Espana, and it will be just the sixth time the red jersey race will start outside of Spain. The 2025 Vuelta will begin on the 23rd August 2025 in Piedmont, within the foothills of the Italian Alps. So just 3 months after the Giro d’Italia takes place in May, the peloton will be back in the brutal Italian Alps.

Last year Primoz Roglic was the champion of Spain for the fourth time in his career. Will he back for number five in 2025, or will Tadej Pogacar look to complete his grand tour hat trick? Let’s take a look at the route some of the pelotons best riders will take on next year.

The first stage of next year’s Vuelta will see the peloton travel from Torino to Reggia di Venaria, in a route which will be a total of 183km. There’s one category 3 climb about 60 km in, but for the most part this is a flat, if a bit bumpy stage.

This will be a perfect opportunity for the peloton’s sprinters to get a win, and also the chance for them to wear the red jersey. Could Jasper Philipsen return to the Vuelta? Or maybe Kaden Groves will once again prove to be the best sprinter in Spain.

The second stage will start in Alba, as the peloton will take on a 157 kilometre route that is bad news for sprinters. Well, the sprinters will be ok up until the final 20 or so kilometres, where there is a category 2 and 10km climb on the Puerto Limonte, that the climbers in the bunch will be excited for.

The final stage in Italy for the 2025 Vuelta a Espana is a short 139 km stage, but there’s a category 2 climb between the star in San Maurizio and the finish line which is in Ceres. So it looks like their could be early gaps in the GC once the Vuelta leaves Italy and heads back to Spanish soil, and this could set up another brilliant edition.