The Gran Salida of the 78th edition of the Vuelta a España will take place in Barcelona on August 26, 2023. The Spanish Grand Tour begins with a 14.6-kilometer team time trial in front of raucous local spectators before stage 2 concludes in Catalonia. The reintroduction of the tough Angliru climb in Asturias is one of the highlights. La Vuelta 2023 concludes in Madrid on September 17th. Here is Everything you need to know: How to watch Vuelta a España 2023 live stream online, Schedule, TV Coverage info.
| Date | August 26 – September 17, 2023 |
| Distance | 3153.8 kilometres (1,960 miles) |
| Start location | Barcelona |
| Finish location | Madrid |
| Category | UCI WorldTour/Grand Tour |
| Edition | 78th |
| Previous edition | 2022 Vuelta a España |
| Previous winner | Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quickstep-AlphaVinyl |
How to Watch Vuelta a España 2023 Live Online on TV
You may be wondering why you need a guide to learn how to watch the cycling race. Unfortunately, the channels airing the race are geo-restricted, my friends. In other words, they only allow viewers in their country access. You can’t just go watch NBC Sports while residing outside the United States. That is not how it works.
For now, let me show you what the channels are:
- Fubo TV (USA)
- RTVE (Spain, Free)
- Peacock (UK)
- Cycling.today (International)
- GCN+ (International)
- FloBikes (Canada)
- Eurosport
- SBS (Australia, Free)
Vuelta a España history
The Vuelta a España, the youngest of the three Grand Tours, was founded in 1935, with early editions interrupted by the Spanish Civil War and World War II.
Since its inception in 1955, the race has gained in stature as one of three Grand Tours. Jacques Anquetil won all three in 1963, becoming the first rider to do so.
The race’s fame took a dark turn in 1968, when it was the target of a terrorist attack by the Basque nationalist group ETA, who detonated a bomb along the course of stage 15 (no one was killed).
Prior to 1995, the race’s April scheduling restricted the calibre of the fields it could attract because it clashed with the major Spring Classics and the Giro d’Italia.
The race has been an important preparation race for the UCI Road World Championships since switching to an August-September time slot.
Luis Ocaa, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Sean Kelly, Tony Rominger, Alberto Contador, Chris Froome, and Alejandro Valverde are among the previous winners. Primo Rogli most recently won three consecutive titles between 2019 and 2021.
Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) dominated the 2022 Vuelta a España in his first major attempt at winning a Grand Tour. The Belgian claimed the lead on the first summit finish at Pico Jano and never looked back.
Because 2023 is the UCI’s new unified world championships, Evenepoel will almost certainly target the men’s road race, which will take place on Sunday, August 6, while the Vuelta begins on August 26.
Vuelta a España 2023 stages:
| date | start – finish | km | type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26-8 | Barcelona – Barcelona | 14.6 | TTT |
| 2 | 27-8 | Mataró – Barcelona | 181.3 | hills |
| 3 | 28-8 | Sùria – Arinsal | 158.8 | mountains |
| 4 | 29-8 | Andorra la Vella – Tarrangona | 183,4 | flat |
| 5 | 30-8 | Morella – Burriana | 185.7 | hills |
| 6 | 31-8 | La Valle d’Uixó – Javalambre | 181.3 | mountains |
| 7 | 1-9 | Utiel – Oliva | 188.8 | flat |
| 8 | 2-9 | Dénia – Xorret Catí | 164.8 | mountains |
| 9 | 3-9 | Cartagena – Caravaca de la Cruz | 180.9 | hills |
| 4-9 | rest day | |||
| 10 | 5-9 | Valladolid – Valladolid | 25.0 | ITT |
| 11 | 6-9 | Lerma – Laguna Negra | 163.2 | hills |
| 12 | 7-9 | Ólvega- Zaragoza | 165.4 | flat |
| 13 | 8-9 | Formigal – Tourmalet | 134.7 | mountains |
| 14 | 9-9 | Sauveterre-de-Béarn – Larra Belagua | 161.7 | mountains |
| 15 | 10-9 | Pamplona – Lekunberri | 156.5 | hills |
| 11-9 | rest day | |||
| 16 | 12-9 | Liencres – Bejes | 119.7 | hills |
| 17 | 13-9 | Ribadesella – Angliru | 122.6 | mountains |
| 18 | 14-9 | Pola de Allande – La Cruz de Linares | 178.9 | mountains |
| 19 | 15-9 | La Bañeza – Íscar | 177.4 | flat |
| 20 | 16-9 | Manzanares el Real – Guadarrama | 208.4 | hills |
| 21 | 17-9 | Hipódromo de la Zarzuela – Madrid | 101.0 | flat |
Vuelta 2023: The Route
The Vuelta a España begins on Saturday, August 26 with a team time trial in Barcelona and concludes on Sunday with a flat city circuit in Madrid. What lies in the middle?
La Vuelta begins with a 14.6-kilometer team time trial in Barcelona, and the second stage begins in Mataró and ends atop the Montjuc in the Catalan city.
Stage 3 takes you to Andorra, where you’ll finish at the ski resort above Arinsal. The last ascent is 6.9 kilometers long and has an average grade of 8.2%. La Vuelta then departs from the Pyrenees for stages 4 and 5, which are predicted to be sprint finishes.
In the second half of the first week, the Tour of Spain returns to the Valencia region. The sixth stage is a tough race with a punishing finish near the Javalambre Observatory. The end climb is 11.2 kilometers long and 7.8% grade; however, the second section is far more difficult than the average suggests.
Stage 7 returns to sprinters, while Stage 8 travels from Denia to Xorret de Cat, where Julian Alaphilippe won in 2017. The finale begins with a 5 kilometer 9% incline that gradually increases to 18% before a 2 kilometer downhill preceding a slightly uphill final kilometer.
Stage 9 passes across rugged terrain to an 8.1-kilometer-long, uneven final climb. Double digit stretches play leapfrog with short downhills, resulting in a 5.4% average grade.
Week 2
2023 does not include the deep – and towering – south of Spain. The vast majority of the trip is spent in northern Spain. The second week of racing begins with an individual time trial in Valladolid before the return of the 2020 finish climb to Laguna Negra. Dan Martin won the 7.7-kilometer race at 5.8% three years ago, ahead of Primoz Roglic and Richard Carapaz. However, the damage will be done in the final 700 meters, where the road rises to 10.5%.
Stage 13 concludes with a summit finish at the Col du Tourmalet, while stage 14 traverses both the French and Spanish sides of the Pyrenees before concluding uphill in the ski resort Larra-Belagua. Stage 15 begins in Pamplona and ends in Lekunberri on Decent.
Week 3
Stage 16 crosses bumpy terrain before finishing on a 5 km with ramps up to 14%, which is a good way to warm up for the terrible Angliru, which could be pivotal in terms of the overall win with its 12.4 kilometers at 9.9%.
Stage 18 follows the same pattern. Following three intermediate hills, the race culminates with an 8.3-kilometer-long double ascent with an average gradient of 8.5%. Stage 19 is a sharp contrast, as the route has very few vertical meters.
And brace yourself for the last chance for climbers. Stage 20 is a high-energy race across the Guadarrama mountains. The route includes 4,000 meters of climbing distributed among ten categorized climbs.
La Vuelta concludes on a flat city circuit in Madrid. In short, stage 21 is ideal for fast men to flourish and the GC leader to bask in his moment of glory.
Vuelta 2023: Riders
Primoz Roglic vuelta – Vuelta 2023: Ridersimage: Cor VosWho are aming to ride la Vuelta a España?
World Tour Teams
AG2R Citroën
Franck Bonamour, Andrea Vendrame, Valentin Retailleau
Alpecin – Deceuninck
Jason Osborne, Robbe Ghys, Dries De Bondt, Lionel Taminaux
Arkéa Samsic
Cristián Rodriguez, Élie Gesbert, Kévin Vauquelin
Astana Qazaqstan Team
David de la Cruz, Harold Tejada
Bahrain Victorious
BORA – hansgrohe
Aleksandr Vlasov, Sergio Higuita, Sam Bennett, Danny van Poppel, Cian Uijtdebroeks
Cofidis
Jesús Herrada, Jonathan Lastra
EF Education – EasyPost
Richard Carapaz, Hugh Carthy, Stefan Bissegger, Simon Carr, Andrea Piccolo, Marijn van den Berg
Groupama – FDJ
Lenny Martinez, Romain Grégoire
INEOS Grenadiers
Geraint Thomas, Carlos Rodriguez, Laurens De Plus
Intermarché – Circus – Wanty
Louis Meintjes, Gerben Thijssen, Rune Herregodts
Jumbo – Visma
Primoz Roglic, Wilco Kelderman, Robert Gesink, Tobias Foss, Sepp Kuss, Koen Bouwman, Attila Valter, Milan Vader, Gijs Leemreize
Lidl – Trek
Giulio Ciccone, Bauke Mollema, Juan Pedro López, Antwan Tolhoek, Jon Aberasturi, Mathias Vacek
Movistar
Enric Mas, Imanol Erviti, José Joaquín Rojas, Óscar Rodríguez, Carlos Verona
Soudal – QuickStep
Remco Evenepoel, Louis Vervaeke, Mauri Vansevenant
Team Jayco AlUla
Eddie Dunbar, Felix Engelhardt
Team dsm – firmenich
Harm Vanhoucke, Marco Brenner
UAE Emirates
João Almeida, Marc Soler, Sebastián Molano, Rui Oliveira
ProTeams
Burgos – BH
Caja Rural – Seguros RGA
Fernando Barceló, Orluis Aular, Jon Barrenetxea, Julen Amezqueta, Eduard Prades, Jefferson Cepeda, Abel Balderstone, Joel Nicolau
Lotto – Dstny
Thomas De Gendt, Victor Campenaerts, Arjen Livyns, Lennert Van Eetvelt, Andreas Kron
TotalEnergies
Paul Ourselin
Vuelta a España: Winners and records
The Vuelta a España is the most physically demanding of the three Grand Tours. Unless you’re seeking some forgotten sprinter stages, you don’t even need to travel there without them. Cyclingstage.com showcases the most recent winners.
The overall leader can be identified by his red shirt. The green jersey is wrapped around the shoulders of the first man in the points classification, who is usually a climber due to all of the top finishes. The winner of the KOM classification receives a polka dot jersey, similar to the Tour de France, with the exception that the dots are blue rather than red.
In 2019, La Vuelta for the first time included a category for the best young rider. Before that, a composite classification, which was a sophisticated mix of the previous three classes, was required.
| Year | GC | Points | Mountains | Youth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2022 | Remco Evenepoel | Mads Pedersen | Richard Carapaz | Remco Evenepoel |
| 2021 | Primoz Roglic | Fabio Jakobsen | Michael Storer | Gino Mäder |
| 2020 | Primoz Roglic | Primoz Roglic | Guillaume Martin | Enric Mas |
| 2019 | Primoz Roglic | Primoz Roglic | Geoffrey Bouchard | Tadej Pogacar |
| 2018 | Simon Yates | Alejandro Valverde | Thomas De Gendt | – |
| 2017 | Chris Froome | Chris Froome | Davide Villella | – |
| 2016 | Nairo Quintana | Fabio Felline | Omar Fraille | – |
| 2015 | Fabio Aru | Alejandro Valverde | Omar Fraille | – |
| 2014 | Alberto Contador | John Degenkolb | Luis León Sanchez | – |
| 2013 | Chris Horner | Alejandro Valverde | Nicolas Edet | – |
| 2012 | Alberto Contador | Alejandro Valverde | Simon Clarke | – |
| 2011 | Chris Froome | Bauke Mollema | David Moncoutié | – |
| 2010 | Vincenzo Nibali | Mark Cavendish | David Moncoutié | – |
| 2009 | Alejandro Valverde | André Greipel | David Moncoutié | – |
| 2008 | Alberto Contador | Greg Van Avermaet | David Moncoutié | – |
Records in the Vuelta a España
Roberto Heras holds the record with 5 total victories. Primoz Roglic, the only remaining active driver, comes closest with two GC victories.
When it comes to stage victories, only one rider reigns supreme. Delio Rodrguez of Spain won 33 stages in the 1940s, including 12 of the 22 stages in the 1941 edition. Alessandro Petacchi comes in second place with 20 stages.
In the 1984 Vuelta, the GC gap was the narrowest ever recorded in a Grand Tour. The race was won by Eric Caritoux (France) with a 6-second lead over Alberto Fernandez Blanco (Spain).
Alberto Contador’s bio