Spanish Vuelta to start in Italy for the first time with first stages in Piedmont region

MADRID (AP) — The 90th edition of the Spanish Vuelta next year will start in the Italian region of Piedmont with the Alps as a backdrop, race organizers said Monday.

Italy will host the first three stages of the race, which starts on Aug. 23, before it returns to Spanish territory.

It will be the first time the Vuelta will start in Italy, but the sixth occasion that it kicks off outside Spain. Last year it began in Portugal and there have been previous starts in the Netherlands and Belgium. The 2026 edition will begin in Monaco.

The opening stage of the 2025 race will depart from Turin and head to Novara on a 183-kilometer route featuring a climb over the Bienca-Tomalino Pass. The 157-kilometer second stage will begin in Alba and finish in Limone Piemonte, marking the race’s first summit finish. The third stage in Italian territory will cover 139 kilometers between San Maurizio Canavese and Ceres, including a climb over the Issiglio Pass.

Turin hosted the finish of the third stage of the 2024 Tour de France.

Italian riders have 187 stage wins in the Spanish tour, trailing only Spanish and Belgian cyclists. Six Italians have won the Vuelta — Fabio Aru (2015), Vincenzo Nibali (2010), Marco Giovannetti (1990), Giovanni Battaglin (1981), Felice Gimondi (1968), and Angelo Conterno (1956).

The 2025 Vuelta will begin on Aug. 23.

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The Associated Press