19/01/2024

Vuelta a Espana denied stage finish atop La Veleta: "We do not have the necessary permits from the authorities"

All three Grand Tours have unveiled the route and profile of their respective races in 2024. For the Vuelta a Espana director Javier Guillen however, a problem has now emerged.

“We would like to finish a stage at La Veleta, at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters, but at the moment we do not have the necessary permits from the authorities,” Guillén has explained, according to Ciclo 21. “We respect that, but we are still working to finish a stage at a higher altitude than has ever been done before.”

Vuelta a Espana 2024 route revealed - 34 kilometers of time-trials only; Puerto de Ancares, Cuitu Negru and Lagos de Covadonga combination returns

La Veleta is a mammoth 42.5km mountain that, if things can be worked out, would take the riders up the highest asphalted climb in Europe, making it a potentially history making stage of any Vuelta a Espana it would show up at.

With race directors seemingly intent on bringing more and more extreme stages and climbs into the Grand Tours over recent years, this climb could be one to keep an eye on for future editions of La Vuelta.