After several months with occasional reports about select stages, Spanish paper AS and Marca have revealed the route for the 2014 Vuelta a Espana in its entirety. With 8 summit finishes, the race will be easier than last year but will still play into the hands of the climbers as there will only be 44km of individual and 12km of team time trialing.

By adding more and more summit, the Vuelta a Espana has created a reputation as being a race for the climbers and it will be no different in 2014. Spanish papers AS and Marca have published the entire route two days ahead of the official presentation and while the reports of a reduced number of summit finishes have been confirmed, the race still plays into the hands of the uphill specialists.

In 2013, the number of summit finishes was a massive 12 but organizers Unipublic have reduced that number to 8 for the 2014 edition. This puts it in line with the Giro d'Italia in which 9 stages will end at the top of a climb.

The climbers may have fewer opportunities to excel but they will be happy to realize that there will be a limited amount of time trialing. As it was already revealed on Tuesday, the race will kick off with a very short 12km team time trial whose distance will make time gaps minimal. This is significantly shorter than the 27,4km stage that opened this year's edition of the race.

The number of individual time trials have gone up from one to two but both stages are reported to be rather short. The first one comes at the midpoint of the race on stage 10 where the riders will tackle a 34,5km course. The final one comes on the race's final day as the race will come to an end with a 10km race against the clock in the streets of Santiago de Compostela which is reported to be held at nighttime. The 44,5km of individual time trialing is slightly more than this year's 38,5km but the reduced amount of team time trialing makes up for that increase.

In general, most of the reports have been confirmed. The second stage will be one for the sprinters while the riders will head into the hills on the third day where the finishing straight will be uphill even though the stage doesn't count as a summit finish. This will again be the case for the 7th stage which brings the opening 7 days in Andalucia to an end.

The 4th and 5th stages will be medium mountain stages and the riders will tackle their first summit finish on stage 6 which ends on the La Zubia climb. The ascent is a short, explosive one which is known from the Vuelta a Andalucia, with Cadel Evans being the most recent winner in 2008.

The first part of the race will come to an end with another summit finish as the 9th stage ends on the Valdelinares climb where Roberto Heras beat Denis Menchov and David Blanco in 2005.

The first rest day comes on the next day and then the riders start the second week which appears to be the hardest. First up is the 34,5km time trial which will be followed by a highly anticipated stage that starts in Pamplona, with the riders initially heading south before making an about turn and heading towards the small town of Lizarraga. There they will reach the finishing climb, San Miguel de Aralar which will be included in the race for the first time. The 11km climb has an average gradient of 8% but includes sections of 16-17% inside the final kilometre. The road is in bad condition and will need to be repaired before the race can make a visit. Miguel Indurain tested the ascent a few days ago and described it as a brutal one suited to pure climbers.

In recent years, the Vuelta a Espana has had a tradition of having three consecutive summit finishes in the third weekend of the race. According to the newspaper, this will be the case again in 2014.

The brutal triptych will start on Saturday, September 6 with a finish on the 9,8km La Camperona climb which has a three kilometre section where the gradient stays between 17% and 22%. Known as "the son of Angliru", its inclusion was already rumoured last week and was tested by the Vuelta organizers earlier this year. If confirmed, the visit will be a first.

On Sunday, September 7, the race will continue with a summit finish on the legendary Lagos di Covadonga. Having been included 18 times since 1983, it is often visited by the Vuelta and was last climbed in 2012 when Antonio Piedra won from a breakaway.

On Monday, September 8, the riders will finish at the Lagos di Somiedo on the Farrapona climb. The finish was last used in 2011 when Rein Taaramae won from a breakaway while Juan Jose Cobo gave the first indications that he was the strongest rider in the race by finishing 2nd. The stage is likely to be a hard one and could include several other major ascents.

That stage will be followed by a rest day and the final five stages in Galicia.

On September 10, the riders will tackle a 174km stage from Ortigueira to A Coruña which will be followed by a 173km stage from A Estrada to the top of the Monte Castrove. The climb featured in the 2012 edition of the race where it played an important role in the time trial won by Fredrik Kessiakoff ahead of Alberto Contador and Chris Froome. This time the riders will tackle it from the hardest side which is 7,2km long, has an average gradient of 6,6% and ramps of up to 14-15%.

The next day will offer a 176km stage from Salvaterra de Miño to Cangas de Onis that precedes the decisive weekend of the race. The first of the two final stages will suit the climbers, with the 163km stage starting in Saint Estebo Ribas do Sil ending on the Ancares climb. The ascent has an average gradient of 9,25 and sections of 20% and was last included in 2012 when Joaquim Rodriguez beat Alberto Contador in a fierce battle on the steep slopes.

The final stage will offer a last chance to take back some time as rumours of a concluding time trial in Santiago de Compostela. However, at just 10km in length, time gaps will be small but if recent history repeats itself, things will be close by the time we get to the final day. There is again talks about the stage taking place at night time after earlier suggestions that this would not be the case.

The Vuelta will take place from August 23 to September 14.