Published December 12, 2018 10:16AM
Vuelta a España 2020 to start in Netherlands
The Vuelta will begin in the low countries in 2020. It will be only the fourth time the Spanish tour has had its grand depart on foreign soil.
Photo: Jim Fryer / BrakeThrough Media | brakethroughmedia.com
MADRID (AFP) — The 2020 Vuelta a España will start in Utrecht and the first three stages will take place in the Netherlands, organizers and Dutch officials announced on Wednesday.
“The team presentation, the start with a team time trial and the finish of the second stage are to be held in Utrecht in August,” the Vuelta’s official website said.
“The second stage will start in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, while the complete third stage will cover the Province of Noord-Brabant, both starting and finishing in Breda.”
Utrecht will become the first city to host stages for the three major tours.
The 2015 Tour de France started in the city and the second stage of the 2010 Giro d’Italia ended there.
Organizers have not yet revealed all the details of the route for 2019, but they have confirmed that the race will begin in Spain.
The Vuelta has only started abroad three times — in Lisbon in 1987, in Assen in the Netherlands in 2009, and in Nimes, France, in 2017.
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Chris Froome (Sky) won the 2017 edition but did not return to the race in 2018, which was won by another Brit, Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott). The full 2019 race route will be presented on December 19.