La Vuelta starts in Benidorm and La Nucia

SPAIN’S own version of the Tour de France, known as ‘La Vuelta’, will start this Saturday (20th August) and go through to Sunday September 11.

It will feature 21 stages, with a total distance of about 3,300 kilometres. And this year for only the third time, Benidorm is to be the starting point for the race.

The Poniente beach is the place where it will all kick off, starting with a time trial that will finish on the Avenida del Mediterraneo.

In total, 13.5 km of the initial route will take place between the skyscrapers of Benidorm. A unique setting such major international squad riders as Andy Schleck, Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov.

After the initial stage, the Tour will continue on the roads of Valencia for two days. The second day will start in La Nucia ( a first for the town) and end at Orihuela Costa, while the third stage will start in Petrel in the southern Costa Blanca (another first for this town), to finally move to the neighbouring region of Murcia.

This is a fantastic opportunity to see the world’s best in action, and apart from circuits being closed for the duration of the race, which could cause major disruption to unsuspecting traffic, it offers a chance to see the action live.

By Paul Deed