The third and final Grand Tour of the year is looming large, much like the daunting array of mountains that are littered throughout the 21 days of racing. The 2024 Vuelta a España is certainly a race for the climbers, with the route including eight mountain stages, five medium mountain stages, and five hilly stages, two of which include high altitude finishes.
Mountain climbs have long been a key part of the Vuelta a España, and this year’s route really plays up to that expectation, traversing Extremadura, Sierra Nevada, Asturias, and the Cantabrian mountains over the three-week race. But that is what it takes to be crowned the winner of the Vuelta, and also what makes it such a spectacle to watch.
With so many climbs and hard stages throughout the 79th edition of this Grand Tour, we take a look at some of the enormous mountain passes the riders will have to take on in their quest to secure themselves the red jersey and Vuelta a España title.
Stage four – Alto de Piornal and Pico Villuercas
As early as stage four, the riders in this year’s Vuelta a España will come head-to-head with their first mountain test, with four categorised climbs, one being a summit finish to the peak of Pico Villuercas. The 170-kilometre-long route will start in Plasencia and climb a total of 3,530 metres. The first climb is the Puerto de Cabezabellosa, ranked category two, and is 9.2km with an average gradient of 5.4%. But this is just a warm-up for the legs as they then face the category-one Alto de Piornal – a 13.9km-long climb with an average gradient of 5.6%, peaking at 11% halfway up the climb. The Alto de Piornal featured in the 2022 edition of the race as stage 18’s summit finish. Remco Evenepoel, in the red jersey, won here in 2022, further securing his first-placed position on the general classification. This won’t be the finish location this year, however, as the peloton is still faced with two more demanding climbs.
Profile of Pico Villuercas sourced via La Vuelta website
The slightly easier Puerto de Miravete follows, marked category three, before the fourth and final climb, which is the first summit finish of the race. Pico Villuercas is a 14.6km-long climb with an average gradient of 6.2% but has eye-watering ramps of 20% in the final kilometres. Finishing 1,600 metres above sea level, the double-digital gradients will see gaps widen, and it’ll be the first glimpse into who has come into this race in excellent form. The Pico Villuercas is a fairly new climb to the Vuelta, first featured in 2021, and was won by climbing extraordinaire Romain Bardet.
Stage six – Puerto del Boyar
The second mountain stage of the race, which starts from the race sponsor supermarket Carrefour in Jerez de la Frontera, features 3,701 metres of climbing, which is backloaded into the second two-thirds of the stage. However, it is the first climb of the day which will test the riders as the three climbs that follow are all category-three ascents. Puerto del Boyar is a category-one ascent, however. The mountain pass in the Spanish region of Cádiz in Andalusia is 14.7km and has an average gradient of 5.5%, peaking at 10%. The climb starts 55km into the stage and will provide the perfect opportunity for those non-GC riders who are looking to secure a stage win in this three-week race.
Profile of Puerto del Boyar sourced via La Vuelta website
The Puerto del Boyar is not a new climb to the race – it has featured on four previous occasions in 1997, 2004, 2007, and most recently, 2014. Michael Matthews won the stage in 2014, where the Puerto del Boyar played a pivotal deciding factor in the day’s result, with the long descent into the finish bringing a small group of riders to the line to contest the stage for a sprint. However, in this year’s race, the climb comes early on in the stage and finishes on another summit finish to Alto de las Abejas.
Stage nine – Puerto de El Purche and Alto de Hazallanas
Rounding off the opening week of the Vuelta is a big day out in the mountains, featuring three back-to-back category-one climbs in the Sierra Nevada. The first, Puerto de El Purche, is one of Andalucia’s most notable climbs and has been featured twice throughout the Vuelta’s history. In the 2024 edition of the race, it comes in the middle of the stage, climbing for 8.9km at an average gradient of 7.6%, but reaches up to 17% in the final two kilometres before a small descent into one final sting to the summit of the pass.
Stage nine profile sourced via La Vuelta website
The stage then features a brutal double ascent of Alto de Hazallanas shortly after. While the climb is not as long as the one beforehand, the 7.1km-long ascent has a leg-zapping gradient of 9.5%, which starts from the very base of the climb and only levels out near the top. Pacing will be important on the ascent of this climb, both times, but the descent into the finish line – 50km into Granada – will be a very welcome sight for the riders' legs, along with the rest day that follows.
Stage 12 – Estación de Montaña de Manzaneda
Stage 12 is one of the race’s hilly stages with an uphill arrival, and that 'uphill' is Estación de Montaña de Manzaneda – a category-one climb that is 15.4km and has a gradient of 4.7%. Situated in the province of Ourense in Galicia, the climb has featured in the Vuelta before in 2021 and was also the epicentre of the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta in 2021, featuring in four of the race’s stages. This stage will also be the shortest of the whole race and, therefore, could produce some aggressive racing, and with the uphill challenge to finish, we might even expect some action from the GC teams.
Profile of Estación de Montaña de Manzaneda sourced via La Vuelta website
Stage 13 – Puerto de Ancares
Following one summit finish, stage 13 sees another summit finish for the peloton. It is another category one, too. The climb to Puerto de Ancares is another with a sting, thanks to its 9.3% average gradient over 7.5km. In previous editions of the race, this climb has produced some exciting battles, with Joaquim Rodríguez winning atop this pass in 2012 and Alberto Contador in 2014. Ten years later, and this climb returns, and we expect to see more battles on the 15% ramps.
The 175.6km stage doesn’t just feature the summit finish, however, unlike the previous stage. The riders would have already tackled the category-three Alto Camp de Abre, category-two Alto O Portelo, and category-two Puerto de Llumeras. While all three climbs are spread across the stage, when they reach the base of the final climb, fatigue will have set in.
Profile of Puerto de Ancares sourced via La Vuelta website
Stage 15 – Valgrande-Pajares. Cuitu Negru
The ski town of Valgrande-Pajares made its debut in the 2012 edition of the Vuelta, producing a fierce battle between that year’s GC stars Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodríguez. However, the rider who proved victorious atop the Cuitu Negru climb to the summit was Dario Cataldo, beating Thomas de Gendt in the break. The inclusion of this colossal climb, the first ‘especial’ of the race, will no doubt produce a spectacular stage. The climb is not only long in length at 18.9km and has an average gradient of 7.4%, but it also has constant uneven gradients, some reaching up to 24%. Pacing this brute will be vital if the GC riders don’t want to lose time to their rivals.
Stage 15 profile sourced via La Vuelta website
In the lead-up to the summit finish, stage 15 also features two category-one climbs – Alto de la Colladiella, twice – and the category-three Alto de Santo Emiliano. But while these climbs will get the legs burning, the final ascent in the Asturian mountains could see a rider win or lose their place on the GC.
Stage 16 – Lagos de Covadonga
Lagos de Covadonga, the summit finish of stage 16, is a regular in the Vuelta a España, with this edition marking its 23rd appearance in the race, having made its debut 41 years ago. It also made an appearance in the women’s race in 2023, in which Demi Vollering reached the summit first, winning the stage but unfortunately not the overall title, which went to Annemiek van Vleuten after a controversial nature break incident earlier in the race.
Profile of Lagos de Covadonga sourced via La Vuelta website
The climb is located in the Picos de Europa national park in Asturias, northern Spain, and is categorised as ‘especial’. Overall, it is 12.5km and has an average gradient of 6.9%, but as it nears the summit, the gradient rises and falls before a small descent into the finish line. It has been renowned in the past for being a decisive moment in the three-week race, and its challenging nature has made it a favourite among cycling fans and professionals alike. The peloton will have tackled two category one climbs before Lagos de Covadonga, too, with the Mirador del Fito featuring 70km into the stage and Collada Llomeno starting at the 100km mark.
Stage 19 – Alto de Moncalvillo
The climb of Alto de Moncalvillo made its Vuelta debut in 2020 when Primož Roglič secured the stage victory 13 seconds ahead of Richard Carapaz, who attacked in the final kilometre of the stage. This saw the Slovenian move from fourth to second on general classification, and he would then later go on to lead and win the overall title. Roglič will have fond memories of this climb, and with it featuring as stage 19’s summit finish, it’ll provide ample opportunity for any GC riders looking to move up the rankings before the race’s final weekend.
Profile of Alto de Moncalvillo sourced via La Vuelta website
This stage is classed as another hilly stage with an uphill arrival, and the 173km route undulates until the final climb, only featuring one other category-three climb in the middle of the stage. The 8.6km-long Alto de Moncalvillo, however, will be where the action happens with an average gradient of 8.9%, which rises to 16% halfway through all the way to the line.
Stage 20 – seven categorised climbs
Stage 20 will be a key stage for the 2024 Vuelta a España and those who have their eyes on the red jersey. With seven categorised climbs, totalling over 5,000 metres of elevation, this is arguably the hardest stage of the entire race.
Stage 20 profile sourced via La Vuelta website
Starting in Villarcayo, the riders will face a constant day of ups and downs, starting with Las Estacas de Trueba (9.2km at 3.1%), followed by Puerto de La Braguía (5.8km at 5.9%), Alto del Caracol (10.8km at 5.4%), Portillo de Lunada (14km at 6.1%), Portillo de la Sia (7.2km at 6.1%), Puerto de Los Tornos (11.3km at 6%), and finally Picón Blanco (7.9km at 9.1%), where the stage will end. It was on the slopes of Picón Blanco in 2021 that Primož Roglič emerged as the champion, and this will be the final opportunity for any of the GC to make a difference between the grand finale in Madrid. However, with over 4,000 metres of climbing before even reaching the base of this final climb, the riders are going to have to dig really deep to make any race-winning attacks on the 18% ramps this climb boasts.
