"We have sought to maintain the essence, we followed the trend of recent years. As this is the 80th anniversary, it is playing with that tradition and innovation that makes people remember our country,” said Javier Guillén, the Vuelta a Espana race director, of the new route.
The work of the nine uphill finals with Paco Giner and Fernando Escartín is the main thing discovered in the presentation, from short and explosive finals to long, historic and grueling climbs. this is what people think of when they think of the Spanish Grand Tour.
"We had our doubts about the route but we believe we have found a balance between the well-known, historic climbs and the three new peaks: Fuente del Chivo, Jitu Escarandi and Ermita de Alba. The route is difficult and intense, but we are determined to have the best route of the three Grand Tours every year," Guillen emphasized.
The one big route change is that for the last few years, the penultimate day has ende in a climb that is known world wide for being so tough: the last three editions have finished with: Bola del Mundo (2012), Angliru (2013) and Puerto de Ancares (2014).
"We had the last four years, the last Saturday at a great height and it was a matter of introducing variety. At the end, the riders are tired and we wanted to offer something different this year. I think it is a well rounded route once again. With the riders who will turn up, we are guaranteed another spectacular show," he ended, before receiving from the hands of Ana Muñoz, Spanish minster for sports, the gold medal for sporting merit.
22.05: GP de la Ville d'Annaba |
20.05 - 24.05: Cycling Tour of Albania |
24.05: GP de la Ville d'Alger |
23.05 - 25.05: Tour of Estonia |
25.05: GP Herning |
25.05: ZLM Omloop der Kempen |
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04.05 - 26.05: Giro d'Italia |
Rik REINERINK 51 years | today |
Pei Tsun CHIEN 36 years | today |
Segundo Mesias NAVARRETE NAVARRETE 39 years | today |
Kao An LI 39 years | today |
Sophie VON BERSWORDT-WALLRABE 28 years | today |
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