The 2023 Vuelta a España will return to the high mountains next September, with the famous climbs of the Col du Tourmalet and Alto de l'Angliru likely to shape the race.

The 2022 race was largely settled by a mid-race time trial in Benidorm, but the tougher route in 2023 will likely favor more out-and-out climbers.

Returning to the Pyrenees, a very tough final run through the Picos de Europa and Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, with finishes on three major summits in the first week, will kick off in Barcelona on August 26 and finish in Madrid on September 17 after 3,153 km The race will be held in Madrid on September 17.

Joaquin Rodriguez, a former racer and multiple Vuelta podium finisher, commented when the route was announced in Barcelona on Tuesday night, "There is a mid-race time trial in Valladolid, but I don't think it is tough enough to change the overall result in favor of the climbers."

In contrast to the three flat opening stages in the Netherlands in 2022, after a tense and short team time trial through the streets of Barcelona, the first mountain trek of the 2023 Vuelta to Andorra with a first category summit finish in Suria-Arinsal The race begins with stage 3, which will be followed by a first category summit finish in Suria-Alinsal.

Forty-eight hours later, a U-turn and a southbound return to Spain awaits the riders on another difficult first-category climb to Jabalambre, last used in the 2019 Vuelta a España. But if the approach road to Jabalambre, a narrow and winding road in the little-known province of Teruel, is arguably as tough as the final climb, then the 20% slope of stage 8, the Sole de Cati, just before the finish, is sure to spark a firestorm among the GC favorites.

After a long migration north, stage 10 through the plains of Valladolid will feature the race's only individual time trial. But even before entering the Pyrenees, the riders must tackle the tough climb to Laguna Negra de Vinuesa on stage 11.

The first mountain stage takes place 48 hours after the Vuelta returns to Tourmalet for the first time in 28 years. The last time it appeared was in 1995, when it was used to finish in Luz Ardiden. This time, it will be one of the most sacred climbs of the Tour de France, forming an unprecedented summit finish. The 134-km stage, which follows the Aubisque Pass and the difficult Spandale Pass in the Pyrenees, should create a clear hierarchy in the GC battle.

If you think the Vuelta peloton will have completed the Pyrenees by then, think again. Twenty-four hours later, the race returns to Spain with the Col Ursell and Puerto de Larue, two less famous but almost equally challenging eaux-categorie mountains, and the Bellagua ski station in Navarra, the seventh first-class mountain finish of the 10 stages.

At this point, the riders will tackle four out-of-category mountains, three more than in 2022. However, in contrast to the relatively easy third week of the 2022 edition, the Vuelta will then head to the Picos de Europa to tackle a fifth out-of-category climb.

Stage 17 brings Vuelta back to Angliru. Angril is widely known as the hardest single climb in all of Spain, and it is so ridiculously steep that riders struggle to stay upright in the rain. In fact, the Angliru is so tough that some Vueltas, like the 2020 edition, have stalemates. But there have also been times when the race has been decided, as in 2013 when Chris Horner beat Vincenzo Nibali to second place.

Unlike the 2022 edition, which ended with a mountainous stage through the Madrid Sierra, stage 20 recalls the finale of the 2021 edition. That time it was in Galicia in northwestern Spain, but this time it is a 208-km stage through the Guadarrama Mountains north of Madrid. However, the idea of a "tail-spinning" stage is exactly the same.

While there are plenty of opportunities for breakaways on days with an "easy" final climb, such as stage 2 to Montjuïc in Barcelona, stage 9 to Caravaca de la Cruz, and stage 15, a short punch through the Cantabrian coast to Vejes, The number of pure sprint stages will be significantly reduced compared to 2022, from eight to five.

"It's a different route for the Vuelta than last year," race director Javier Guigen told Spanish television at the end of his presentation.

"There is also a change in the schedule of the World Championships, which comes just before the Vuelta for the first time ever, and we don't know how that will affect the race. But the important thing is that the spectators enjoy the spectacle."