A fine balance between big and small, familiar and unknown
March 24 th 2025 - 11:00 [GMT + 1]
La Vuelta Femenina 25 by Carrefour.es will begin in Barcelona, a city that is trending in road cycling because it hosted the start of La Vuelta 23 and will also enjoy the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2026. Its relationship with this sport, though, dates back much further, given that the Mediterranean capital saw some of the first races ever ridden in Spain. In fact, there are women cycling competitions recorded in Barcelona’s Parc de la Ciutadella as early as in 1932. The opening TTT course will feature some of the city’s architectural gems, like Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Milà and the gardens of the former royal palace in Pedralbes.
Yet La Vuelta Femenina 25 by Carrefour.es also embraces the charm of the tiniest of the towns, as showcased by the sixth stage between Becerril de Campos (population: 757) and Baltanás (pop. 1.228). On May 9th, the former will become the smallest-ever village to ever host this event, while the latter is bound to be the second-smallest finish location - only Vinuesa (pop. 833), whose Laguna Negra was the scenario of an uphill challenge won by Évita Muzic in 2024, had fewer residents. Figures that contrast with Barcelona’s 1.702.547 inhabitants and underline cycling’s unique character as a sport that can stage an event anywhere in the globe, able to bring world-class competition to communities of all sizes.
The route of the Spanish women’s Grand Tour will also pay tribute to the history of the sport. The second stage begins in Molins de Rei, home to a cycling club that celebrated its 75th anniversary last year and whose president, Josep Tena, competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics as part of Spain’s TTT squad. The stage finishes in Sant Boi de Llobregat, where the Agrupación Ciclista Samboyana, founded in 1914, continues to thrive. The following day, the race starts from Barbastro, home to another historic cycling club whose origins date back to 1885. That stage will conclude in Huesca, a city that hasn’t hosted a professional cycling race finish in over 30 years - yet welcomed the women’s peloton in La Vuelta Femenina 24 by Carrefour.es as a starting point in the journey to Jaca’s Fuerte Rapitán, where Demi Vollering raised her arms in victory.
Like Becerril de Campos and Baltanás, the small town of Pedrola will make its debut in elite cycling with this event. From there, the race will head to Borja, a city in the province of Zaragoza where the noble family later known as the Borgias laid its foundations. Borja gained worldwide attention in 2012 due to its Ecce Homo, a fresco in the Sanctuary of Mercy that became an unexpected tourist attraction after an unfortunate restoration by a local artist. The race will indeed climb to this Santuario de la Misericordia before a frantic descent into this town that, in 2014, was the finish of an ITT of men’s La Vuelta on which Nairo Quintana crashed out of the race while wearing La Roja (the red GC leader’s jersey). His misfortune handed the jersey to Alberto Contador, who carried it all the way to his overall victory in Santiago de Compostela.
When it comes to cycling sanctuaries, few in Spain compare to Lagunas de Neila. Since its debut in the 1985 Vuelta a Burgos, the punishing slopes of this iconic climb have become a familiar battleground for cycling fans, setting the stage for memorable victories by Gianni Bugno, Tony Rominger, Alejandro Valverde, Primoz Roglic, or the aforementioned Nairo Quintana. Some of the biggest names in women’s cycling have also conquered this summit in the female version of the Vuelta a Burgos, like Anna van der Breggen and Demi Vollering. The latter, reigning champion of La VueltaFemenina by Carrefour.es, will undoubtedly be aiming for another triumph atop Lagunas de Neila - a key step toward securing her second overall victory in the Spanish Grand Tour.
If Lagunas de Neila embodies tradition, Cotobello represents novelty. This Asturian climb first appeared in road cycling in 2008, featured in the men’s junior Vuelta a la Montaña Central. Respected local rider Chechu Rubiera later recommended it to the organizers of La Vuelta, leading to its debut as a summit finish two years later. That day, Mikel Nieve claimed an impressive solo victory, while Purito Rodríguez took La Roja from Vincenzo Nibali, who would eventually reclaim it and bring it home to Sicily. At La Vuelta Femenina 25 by Carrefour.es, the ascent to Cotobellowill come after the Alto de la Colladona and Alto de la Colladiella, adding up to 2.500 meters of elevation gain spread over 152 kilometres that will mark this stage as the hardest ever ridden in the history of this event.