Madrid (AFP)

The most international Vuelta in history: the organizers presented this Tuesday evening the route of the Tour of Spain cycling 2020, which will cross four countries - Netherlands, Spain, France, Portugal - for a 75th edition still very mountainous.

The peloton will start on August 14 from Utrecht (Netherlands) and will arrive 3,200 kilometers, 21 stages and three weeks later, September 6 in Madrid, after having tamed an intense and demanding course, with the Tourmalet and the Angliru as summits to show.

Who will be the successor to Primoz Roglic, the first Slovenian to win a Grand Tour last year? What is certain is that he must have a climber profile. The organizers have once again decided to align several legendary passes to the program for this 2020 edition, with seven summit finishes (one less than in 2019) and eleven stages of medium or high mountain, in Spain and France.

For the second consecutive time, the Vuelta will start with a collective time trial in 2020, with a first stage of 23.3 kilometers in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, where the tour will pack its luggage for the first three days of racing .

After a day of rest, it is through the Basque Country that the race will enter Spanish territory. And it will be necessary to have taken the rhythm, because the mountain will make its appearance from this fourth stage with an arrival at the top of the Col d'Arrate, with slopes approaching the 13% who could decide the first differences.

The peloton will then cross Navarre, with a pass through the Aralar pass (first category), before passing through Soria the following day for an unprecedented final in the magnificent setting of the Laguna Negra natural park, at 1,700 meters from altitude.

- The mythical Angliru is back -

Before a necessary day of rest, the Vuelta will have a day that promises to be decisive during the ninth stage: a short (135.6 km) but intense route, through the Pyrenean passes of Pourtalet (1st cat.), And l'Aubisque (except category), then an exceptional arrival at the top of the legendary Tourmalet, at 2.115 meters above sea level, with average slopes at 7.4%.

The French triptych will serve to widen the gaps among the favorites ... but the runners will not be able to rest at the weekend, during the rocking in the Asturian relief, with the big Farrapona during the 14th stage, and the mythical Angliru during the 15th, two classic and formidable passes of the Tour of Spain. The Angliru reappears after having been tamed for the last time in 2017 by Alberto Contador the year of his retirement.

In addition to this complicated doublet, these two stages will include other climbs: five including four of 1st category for that of Farrapona, and four including two of 1st for Angliru. A whole program, which should allow the contenders for the podium, or even the title, to stand out before the last day of rest.

The rested organizations will then tackle an individual time trial of 33.5 km which will still give pride of place to climbers, with a sloping profile and a short finish on the coast of the Mirador de Ezaro (1.5 km ) but very steep, with passages over 20%!

The Hispanic loop will then enter Galicia and Portugal, and the final battle for the red jersey will be fought in the 20th and penultimate stage, at the out-of-category pass of the Covatilla.

The positions should be fixed for the last stage between the Zarzuela racecourse and Madrid, where the successor to Primoz Roglic will be crowned on September 6, 2020.

© 2019 AFP