2026 Vuelta a España Stage 20 preview | The monstrous mountain stage everyone has feared for weeks

When the route of the Vuelta a España was unveiled, a few stages immediately stood out from the rest. The visit to Andorra in the opening week was one of them, while the long time trial on day 18 also captured the imagination, but above all it was Stage 20 that struck fear into the riders. With climbing almost all day and close to 5,000 metres of elevation gain, the Vuelta a España could still be turned completely upside down on the penultimate day.

Friday already featured 4,000 metres of climbing, but on the penultimate day the Vuelta casually adds almost another 5,000 metres to the riders’ workload. Whether the twentieth stage should officially be called the queen stage is open to debate, but one thing is certain: the organisers have designed this day with the clear intention of deciding the general classification.

From La Calahorra, an exhausted peloton will begin a 187-kilometre stage. The opening kilometres are rolling rather than brutally difficult. The Puerto de Blancares, the first climb of the day, is not especially intimidating either, measuring 7.4 kilometres at an average gradient of 3.6 percent. After the descent, however, the race heads into Granada, the beautiful historic city where this year’s Vuelta will eventually finish. The riders will not be climbing towards the Alhambra, the city’s famous former royal palace, just yet.

Instead, the race turns west for a local circuit that will be completed twice. It features the Puerto de El Purche, also known as the Collado del Muerto: a real brute of a climb at 8.2 kilometres with an average gradient of 8.2 percent. The steepest ramps reach around 18 percent shortly before the summit. When the riders tackle the climb for the second time, there will still be roughly 60 kilometres left to race.

After the descent, the riders begin another long loop. This time the peloton passes to the north of the Embalse de Canales reservoir, having previously ridden along its southern side. An intermediate sprint comes after a short but sharp uphill section, although the penultimate proper climb only begins after that: the Puerto del Duque is effectively the opposite side of El Purche. It measures 7.4 kilometres at 8.2 percent, with pitches reaching a brutal 20 percent.

The descent takes place on familiar roads, as it is essentially the same descent the riders will already have completed twice from El Purche, with a little extra added near the top. Once that long descent is over, it is straight back into climbing mode. The Collado del Alguacil is a new ascent for the Vuelta a España, and it is certainly not an insignificant addition. The official climb is 8.4 kilometres long, but the road has already been rising for some time before the real ascent begins.

Right from the foot of the classified climb, the gradient spikes to 22 percent. And remarkably, the opening kilometres are the easiest part... After three kilometres that fluctuate between average gradients of eight and ten percent, the road never drops back below double figures. 10, 10.4, 10.2, 10.7, 11.1... There will be virtually no opportunity for the riders to recover, and by that point they will already have around 4,000 metres of climbing in their legs.

The Alguacil works out at 8.4 kilometres with an average gradient of 9.9 percent. The final kilometre is the steepest on average, and that is where the suffering riders will still encounter sections reaching as much as 16 percent. Whatever happens beforehand, this is a climb where the strongest rider should ultimately prevail, and gaps between the main contenders are almost guaranteed.

Times
Start: 12:36 p.m.
Finish: 5:15 p.m.

After weeks in which the riders have repeatedly been battered by daunting temperatures, conditions should be slightly cooler again, just as they were on Friday. It will be around 28°C at the start, with similar temperatures expected at the foot of the Alguacil. At the summit, it should be around five or six degrees cooler.

The big question on the penultimate day of the Vuelta is this: will race leader Enric Mas simply defend his position, or does he have so much confidence that he decides to attack and put the perfect finishing touch on his race? Movistar certainly has a team capable of controlling proceedings and, in the manner UAE Emirates-XRG often does for Tadej Pogačar, could keep a breakaway within striking distance throughout the day.

Mas has already won a stage in this Vuelta, however, and during Stage 19 he did not exactly give the impression that adding another stage victory was a major priority. Much the same probably applies to his closest challengers, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM). Their main objective will be dropping the other general classification contenders, although that approach could of course produce extremely aggressive racing and ultimately a battle between the strongest riders on the final climb.

Mas and Roglič are fighting for the red jersey. In Gall’s case, you could argue that third place is already almost secure, while a stage victory is still missing from his Vuelta. That could give the Austrian more reason to target the win, and the same is certainly true of the riders sitting fourth and fifth overall: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS).

Both are a long way from the podium, meaning a stage win — alongside the white young rider’s jersey in Onley’s case — appears to be the most significant prize still available to them. The problem is that Carapaz was not exactly granted much freedom in Stage 19 either, so any move may have to come from within the group of favorites. Perhaps Mas and Roglič will focus so much on one another that the others are given slightly more room, although the chances of that happening do not appear particularly high.

Outside the top five overall, there may be a little more freedom to dream, although plenty of riders currently sitting inside the top ten will be determined to defend those positions. Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) has already won a stage, while his team will also be heavily focused on the mountains jersey with Santiago Buitrago. As Friday showed, however, those two objectives can go hand in hand with a bid for the stage victory. For that same reason, we also have Pablo Castrillo of Movistar on our list.

Visma | Lease a Bike is another team that will undoubtedly be determined to race for the win. Sepp Kuss appears to be its leading candidate, but Jørgen Nordhagen is another rider worth watching closely. Pinarello-Q36.5 already showed considerable strength in Stage 19 through Eddie Dunbar, who took the stage victory, and Thomas Gloag. XDS Astana, meanwhile, appears to be heading towards two places inside the overall top ten with Harold Tejada and Cristián Rodriguez. The question is whether they will dare to risk those positions by racing for the stage win.

Mattias Skjelmose will surely be prepared to take that kind of chance for Lidl-Trek, although despite his top-ten position the Dane has not shown truly exceptional legs during this Vuelta. Other strong climbers may instead have important domestique duties for their leaders. That applies, for example, to Decathlon duo Léo Bisiaux and Matthew Riccitello, who can work for Gall, while Luke Tuckwell could have a key role supporting Roglič.

Who else could contend? By day 20 of a Grand Tour, the form shown over the previous 19 days is usually a fairly reliable guide, so we are not expecting sudden miracles from experienced riders such as Mikel Landa or Pello Bilbao. For exactly that reason, however, we do expect Uno-X Mobility to race proactively, with Tobias Halland Johannessen in particular standing out as a potential candidate. And why could Marco Brenner not add another stage win for Tudor?

Jarno Widar goes onto our list for Lotto-Intermarché, if only because the riders will face some genuinely extreme gradients and the Belgian generally knows how to handle roads this steep. Urko Berrada remains a dangerous customer for Equipo Kern Pharma, just as Valentin Paret-Peintre does for Quick-Step. We will also continue to mention Georg Steinhauser (EF) and the so-far largely anonymous Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana) among the possible outsiders.

Top Favorites: Enric Mas (Movistar) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Outsiders: Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS), Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious), and Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Long shots: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma | Lease a Bike), Eddie Dunbar, Thomas Gloag (Pinarello-Q36.5), Harold Tejada, Cristián Rodriguez, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Léo Bisiaux, Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Marco Brenner (Tudor), Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché), Urko Berrada (Equipo Kern Pharma), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), and Georg Steinhauser (EF)

Bram van der Ploeg ( LinkedIn | email: [email protected])