The most important information about stage 1 of the Vuelta a España 2025
- Saturday, 23 August: Torino-Reggia di Venaria - Novara
- Length: 186.1 kilometres (flat)
- Altitude metres: 1337
- Sharp start: 13:22
- Arrival at the finish: ~17:20-17:42
- TV broadcast: 12:45-18:00 Eurosport 1
- Live stream: Discovery Plus (fee required)
- All stages of the Vuelta a España 2025 at a glance
- The start list
- To the Vuelta live ticker
Route of the 1st stage of the Tour of Spain 2025
The Vuelta a España 2025 begins with a special feature: a start that is not an individual time trial or team time trial. Such starts are rare in the Tour of Spain - in the 21st century they have only been seen in 2007 and 2020. The first stage takes the riders over 186 kilometres from Turin to Novara. The official start is in Venaria Reale, a suburb of Turin. The northern Italian metropolis of Turin can boast a special record: After the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France last year, the city is now hosting all three major national tours in the space of just 18 months - a real feast for cycling fans in northern Italy.
The route is predominantly flat to slightly undulating, which favours the sprinters. The only categorised climb of the day is La Serra, a third category climb. The summit is reached after around 70 kilometres, leaving enough time to catch any breakaways. The winner of the first mountain jersey of the Vuelta 2025 will be decided here. After the mountain classification, the route returns to its original profile. The final kilometres towards Novara are completely flat, creating ideal conditions for the sprint teams.
Sporting assessment of stage 1 of the Vuelta a España 2025
The flat nature of the opening stage clearly favours the sprinters in the peloton. The almost completely flat finale should allow the teams' sprint trains to work optimally. The pure sprinters have the best chance of winning the first red jersey of the tour. Given the profile and the importance of the opening stage, breakaway attempts will probably have little chance of success. The teams of the classification riders will be keen to get their captains safely through the day and avoid crashes. For puncheurs, the only mountain prize could offer a chance to secure the mountain jersey, but they will hardly play a role in the stage win. The sprinters will therefore take centre stage, and whoever triumphs here can not only look forward to the stage win, but also the first leader's jersey of the 2025 Vuelta.
Leon Weidner
Working student
