Pogačar beware: Vuelta a España queen stage changed but remains monstrous

The Vuelta a España hasn’t started yet, but the route has already undergone its first change. Organisers announced on Friday morning that Stage 20 has been modified because of landslides caused by severe weather in February. As a result, the access roads to the Alto de Hazallanas are not currently considered safe enough for the entire peloton.

Stage 20 of the Vuelta was designed as the queen stage of the 2026 Tour of Spain, and that remains very much the case. The riders will still tackle more than 5,000 metres of elevation gain that day, spread across five climbs and culminating with a summit finish on the monstrous Collado del Alguacil. The final ascent measures 8.3 kilometres at an average gradient of 10 percent. You only seem to find climbs like these at the Vuelta...

There will, however, be some changes along the way, with the Alto de Hazallanas removed from the route as both the second and fourth climbs of the day. From the third-category Puerto de los Blancares, the riders will now head towards the Puerto de El Purche, which they will tackle not once, but twice. At 8.4 kilometres with an average gradient of 8 percent, the peloton will certainly have its work cut out.

Following the double ascent of El Purche, the riders will reach the Puerto de El Duque, which will now serve as the penultimate climb of the stage. The ascent is 6.2 kilometres long at an average gradient of 7.8 percent, with sections reaching a maximum of 18 percent. It therefore represents a worthy replacement for the Alto de Hazallanas, which would have measured 7.4 kilometres at an average gradient of 9.4 percent.

The landslides date all the way back to February, meaning the organisers waited several months before making a final decision about the route. “The organisation has designed an alternative route that closely mirrors the original and maintains the difficulty and challenge of the penultimate stage,” La Vuelta explained in its official press release.

It was not so much the road on the Alto de Hazallanas itself that caused the problem, but primarily the access roads leading towards the climb, which made its inclusion in the route impossible under the required safety standards. “La Vuelta would like to thank the local authorities and all the organisations involved for their collaboration. Their joint efforts have made it possible to define the best alternative to ensure the stage can be held under the highest safety standards.”