La Vuelta Femenina 2024 route revealed

First women’s Grand Tour of the season to tackle Pyrenees for the first time in expanded, eight-day mountainous route

12:51, Friday 8th March 2024

Flo Clifford

Freelance writer

The Vuelta Femenina regularly tasks the peloton with challenging climbs

The Vuelta Femenina 2024 route was officially unveiled on Friday at the Palau de Les Comunicacions in its start city of Valencia.

Presented by title sponsors Carrefour.es, the race organisers ASO and Unipublic have delivered a punchy and mountainous route that will cause fireworks among its many GC contenders.

The first Grand Tour of the season will run from 28 April - 5 May 2024 and has expanded to eight stages from seven last year as the race – and the depth of the women’s field – goes from strength to strength.

Venturing 870km through eight Spanish provinces and tackling the Pyrenees for the first time, this year’s parcours features three summit finishes, including one on the crucial final day, one real sprint opportunity and a team time trial.

All three of the mountaintop finishes will be on climbs previously contested at the men's Vuelta a España, at the Rapitán Fort in Jaca, La Laguna Negra in Vinuesa (which has twice featured in the men’s race) and the ascent to Valdesquí on the final day.

Route profile

Like last year the race will start with a team time trial, which was won in 2023 by Jumbo-Visma (now Visma-Lease a Bike). The first stage in 2024 will be similar, a 16km straight line out and back to Valencia along a flat coastal road.

Stage 2 will see the riders tackle rugged terrain in a 118km route from Buñol to Moncófar in Valencia, which also features the race’s first climb, the 3rd category Puerto de l’Oronet at around the 80km mark. After that ascent the elevation quickly falls away, leading to a chance for the sprinters on the flat in Moncófar.

Stage 3 will see the peloton cross into nearby Aragón as they travel over 130km of mountains from Lucena del Cid to the finish in Teruel. Another category 3 climb, the Alto Fuente de Rubielos, comes at about the halfway point of a punchy uphill stage which may prove a test too far for the sprinters in the bunch.

The fast women get their day in the sun on the following 142km stage – the longest of the race – which starts at 1200m of elevation in Molina de Aragón and falls away to 200m above sea level in Zaragoza. While it looks a straightforward downhill to the finish, crosswinds may wreak havoc with the potential for echelons and a much more challenging day in the saddle than at first glance.

Stage 5 is the first proper mountain stage of the race, heading northwards to near the Pyrenees, where the battle for GC is likely to hot up. The first categorised climb is the category 2 ascent up San Juan de la Peña, which has no particularly steep ramps but is a long slog at 18km. After a fast descent, it’s then back uphill towards the finish at Rapitán Fort in Jaca, a 3.5km climb at a gradient of 7.9% where the legs will really start to burn.

There’s no let-up for the GC contenders on stage 6 with a predominantly flat stage hiking steeply upwards near the finish. The 132km route starts in Tarazona and after another day likely to be affected by crosswinds closes with a mountaintop finish at La Laguna Negra in Vinuesa.

Stage 7 heads into the heart of Spain on another flat-ish day with a complicated finale. A winding 126km from San Esteban de Gormaz ends with a testing final 500m on the streets of Sigüenza, featuring ramps of between 8-10% which will likely decimate the field of sprinters and benefit the most explosive riders.

The final stage is short but definitely not sweet, with 89km of climbing around Madrid from Distrito Telefónca to the tour’s finish line in Valdesquí. The GC is likely to be decided on the brutal category 1 climbs, Puerto de la Morcuera and the Cotos Mountain Pass, before flattening out in the final kilometres approaching Valdesquí where the maillot rojo will be crowned.

The Vuelta Femenina will be an unusual sight without the presence of Annemiek van Vleuten this year

History of the Vuelta Femenina

The Vuelta Femenina was first raced in 2015 as a one-day sprinters’ race on a circuit through Madrid, held on the same day as the conclusion of the men’s Vuelta. After three years as the Madrid Challenge it gradually grew in length and stature, becoming a seven-day race last year and becoming known as La Vuelta Femenina. It is now considered one of the most prestigious in women’s cycling alongside the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and Giro d’Italia Women and has attracted a stacked field in recent years.

Contenders

Now-retired great Annemiek van Vleuten won the last two editions of the race, meaning this year’s will be guaranteed a new maillot rojo at the finish line in Valdesquí. Classics specialist Lotte Kopecky won the points classification in 2021, but after an unexpectedly strong showing at last year’s Tour de France Femmes – finishing second to SD Worx-Protime teammate Demi Vollering – could challenge for the GC.

Last year’s Vuelta runner-up Vollering lost out by only nine seconds to van Vleuten and is the likely favourite to go one better after her dominant showing at the Tour de Frances Femmes (and all stage racing last year).

Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and Elisa Longo Borghini and Gaia Realini of Lidl-Trek are likely to be in the mix too for a maiden Grand Tour win – especially after Realini’s third-place podium last year.

Potential contenders for the Vuelta Femenina crown

Vuelta Femenina 2024 stages

Stage 1: Valencia - Valencia | 16 km

Stage 2: Buñol - Moncófar | 118 km

Stage 3: Lucena del Cid - Teruel | 131 km

Stage 4: Molina de Aragón - Zaragoza | 142 km

Stage 5: Huesca - Jaca | 113 km

Stage 6: Tarazona - La Laguna Negra, Vinuesa | 132 km

Stage 7: San Esteban de Gormaz - Sigüenza | 126 km

Stage 8: Distrito Telefónica, Madrid - Valdesquí | 89 km

Teams competing

Only 13 WorldTour teams will take part, with Ceratizit, Uno-X, Tashkent and Cofidis opting out of the race, and eight Continental teams filling the remaining spaces.

WorldTour: