The 2,100-meter-high Tourmalet will likely feature as the summit finish of the Vuelta a España for the first time in Spanish Grand Tour history.

Located in the French Pyrenees and one of cycling's most famous mountains, Tourmalet was originally scheduled to take place during the first week of the 2020 Vuelta a España, a particularly challenging date.

However, due to a pandemic, the idea was scrapped and the much easier Formigal climb in Spain was used instead, but this week various media outlets reported that Tourmalet will be back on the menu for the 2023 Vuelta.

Race organizer Unipublic strongly hinted at the possibility, telling the official Vuelta newspaper AS, "A summit finish in Tourmalet is a real possibility and we are working on it."

The Pyrenees climb is already scheduled as part of the men's and women's Tour de France in the summer of 2023. In the former, it will be part of stage 6, and in the latter, Tourmalet will be the stage finish 24 hours before the final time trial for the Tour de France women in Pau.

At 18.3 km on one side and 17 km on the other, Tourmalet was last attempted in 1995 at the Vuelta a España, an ultra-tough long stage finished by overall winner Laurent Jalabert in Luz Ardiden.

In 2023, after 61 years, the Vuelta will start in Barcelona on August 26 and end in Madrid on September 17, but little is known about the upcoming route. The 14-km team time trial, which will finish in Parc Montjuïc in the Catalan capital, is one of the few courses that has already been officially announced.

Beyond that, there are rumors of a stage that starts and finishes in Catalonia and includes a two-day visit to the neighboring Principality of Andorra. on the 2023 Vuelta route, the Tourmalet climb is the most logical, and probably the final stage of the first week, as planned for 2020 It will be.

According to local media, other stages have already been set up in the Navarra region in the north and Valencia in the east. There are also widespread rumors of a return to Angliru, the country's hardest climb on the other side of Spain, but the scale of the move would probably make even the Vuelta organizers hesitate.

The later start date for the Vuelta is due to the UCI World Championships calendar being moved forward to next August and incorporating several disciplines, including road, MTB, and track. The final race of the World Championships will be on Sunday, August 13, with the Vuelta starting six days later.

The full route for the 2023 Vuelta will be announced in Barcelona on January 10.