La Vuelta is finally back this year, starting August 19th as one of the 3 major Grand Tours of the cycling world. The other two being the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. Can Primož Roglič recover from his shoulder injury and claim victory once more? Bookmaker William Hill has the latest odds!
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 17th, 11:00 A.M. (EST)
Looking at the odds it is interesting to see Roglič as the favourite for this year’s tour. Having suffered a shoulder injury while taking part in the Tour de France earlier this year, many expected Roglič to remain sidelined for this year’s La Vuelta. His team, Team Jumbo-Visma, stated earlier that Roglič is indeed healthy and ready to go. The only question remaining is whether he has had enough time to prepare for a tour as challenging as La Vuelta. We will have to wait and see.
Another surprise comes from Enric Mas who is priced at 19.00. He is significantly behind Roglič who not only suffered a potentially career changing injury, but who performed not that much better than Mas who came in second in last year’s La Vuelta.
When it comes to the stages themselves there are several key points to take away before the race begins. First, the race starts in Utrecht with a time trial event followed by two flat stages also in the Netherlands. The tour then continues with four sprint stages scattered through seven summit finishes followed by one individual time trial and several days of battling the mountainous terrain.
Second, for those more experienced in cycling, the race will take part across most of Spain over hilly and mountainous terrain as follows. The first major summit is on the Pico Jano (Stage 6) followed by the Asturias summit in week two of the tour. The race then continues along the Costa Blanca before taking a turn towards southern Spain followed by a ride towards the center of the country prior to the finish in Madrid.
The total number of summit finishes is seven and these include Les Praeres, La Pandera, Penas Blancas, the Alto del Piornal and the Alto Hoya de la Mora in Sierra Nevada – the highest peak of the race is at 2,512m.
The full schedule can be seen below:
| Stage 1: Fri Aug 19 | Utrecht – Utrecht | 23.2km (TTT) |
| Stage 2: Sat Aug 20 | ‘s-Hertogenbosch – Utrecht | 175.1km (Flat) |
| Stage 3: Sun Aug 21 | Breda – Breda | 193.5km (Flat) |
| Rest day: Mon Aug 22 | ||
| Stage 4: Tue Aug 23 | Votoria-Gasteiz – Laguardia | 152.5km (Medium mountains) |
| Stage 5: Wed Aug 24 | Irun – Bilbao | 187.2km (Medium mountains) |
| Stage 6: Thu Aug 25 | Bilbao – Pico Jano (San Miguel de Aguayo) | 181.2km (Summit finish) |
| Stage 7: Fri Aug 26 | Camargo – Cistierna | 190km (Medium mountains) |
| Stage 8: Sat Aug 27 | La Pola Llaviana – Collau Fancuaya | 153.4km (Summit finish) |
| Stage 9: Sun Aug 28 | Villaviciosa – Les Praeres | 171.4km (Summit finish) |
| Rest day: Mon Aug 29 | ||
| Stage 10: Tue Aug 30 | Elche – Alicante | 30.9km (ITT) |
| Stage 11: Wed Aug 31 | ElPozo Alimentacion – Cabo de Gata | 191.2km (Flat) |
| Stage 12: Thu Sep 1 | Salobrena – Penas Blancas | 192.7km (Summit finish) |
| Stage 13: Fri Sep 2 | Ronda – Montilla | 168.4km (Flat-ish) |
| Stage 14: Sat Sep 3 | Montoro – Sierra de La Pandera | 160.3km (Summit finish) |
| Stage 15: Sun Sep 4 | Martos – Alto Hoya de la Mora, Sierra Nevada | 149.6km (Summit finish) |
| Rest day: Mon Sep 5 | ||
| Stage 16: Tue Sep 6 | Sanlucar de Barrameda – Tomares | 189.4km (Flat) |
| Stage 17: Wed Sep 7 | Aracena – Monasterio de Tentudia | 162.3km (Uphill finish) |
| Stage 18: Thu Sep 8 | Trujillo – Alto del Piornal | 192km (Summit finish) |
| Stage 19: Fri Sep 9 | Talavera de la Reina – Talavera de la Reina | 138.3km (Medium mountains) |
| Stage 20: Sat Sep 10 | Moralzarzal – Puerto de Navacerrada | 181km (Mountains) |
| Stage 21: Sun Sep 11 | Las Rozas – Madrid | 96.7km (Flat) |
