The headquarters for the start of La Vuelta 25 have been inaugurated in Turin, on the eve of the team presentation, which will be held Thursday at Piazzetta Reale. As of Saturday, Italy will become the eighth country to be visited by La Vuelta, and the third to have hosted the start of all three Grand Tours, after France and the Netherlands. Tifosi are expected in great numbers to cheer on the cream of the Italian crop, especially Piedmont’s Filippo Ganna and Matteo Sobrero.
PIEDMONT AT THE HEART OF INTERNATIONAL CYCLING
The preliminary operations of La Vuelta 25 kicked off on Wednesday with the inauguration of the headquarters in Turin’s skyscraper Grattacielo Regione Piemonte, on the eve of the team presentation - held on Piazzetta Reale. Ahead of the race’s start on Saturday, from the prestigious setting of Reggia di Venaria, hundreds of riders, staff members, officials, and media representatives from around the world will visit the headquarters as they prepare for three weeks of competition, packed with history from day one.
Hosting the first three stages in their entirety, as well as the start of stage 4, Piedmont will have been visited by all three Grand Tours in the past 15 months - an impressive feat that reflects both the region’s deep cycling heritage, exemplified by the long-running Milano–Torino (first raced in 1876), and the commitment of local authorities.
Last year, Venaria Reale and Turin hosted the Grande Partenza of the Giro, with Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narvaez claiming the first Maglia Rosa. A couple of months later, the Tour de France set off from Florence and quickly made its way to Turin, where Biniam Girmay won the stage. In just a few days, the stars of La Vuelta 25 will lead fresh conquests in Piedmont.
LA VUELTA KEEPS ON EXPLORING: ITALY’S TURN
This weekend, Italy will become the eighth country to be visite by La Vuelta. After the first editions were exclusively held on Spanish roads, the peloton crossed the border for the first time in 1955, during the second stage between San Sebastián and Bayonne, in France, a country where the race has passed through 12 times. Since then, La Vuelta has visited Andorra (22 times, the first in 1965), Portugal (1997, 2024), the Netherlands (2009, 2022), Belgium (2009, 2022) and Germany (2009).
Turin will also become the fifth non-Spanish city to host the grand departure after Lisbon (Portugal) in 1997 and 2024, Assen (the Netherlands) in 2009, Nîmes (France) in 2017 and Utrecht (the Netherlands) in 2022. This is another first for Italy, joining France and the Netherlands as the only countries that have hosted the first stages of all three Grand Tours.
This is the second time in history that La Vuelta will pass through four different countries: Italy (until Tuesday), France (with a finish in Voiron on stage 4), Spain and Andorra. But this is the first time ever that there will be stage towns in four countries! In 2009, the race crossed Germany without stopping, heading from the Netherlands to Belgium before returning to Spain.
GANNA, VIVIANI, CICCONE: ITALY’S STARS AT THE FOREFRONT
The tifosi will be in for a treat! From Thursday evening, at the team presentation (Piazzetta Reale in Turin, 7.30 p.m.), they will have the chance to cheer on most of their favourite riders. The biggest names in Italian cycling since the retirement of Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru, winners of La Vuelta in 2010 and 2015 respectively, will be there, including Filippo Ganna, the last Italian elite world champion (winner of the time trial in 2020 and 2021), Elia Viviani, the most prolific Italian sprinter of the last fifteen years (90 victories including stages in the three Grand Tours), and Giulio Ciccone, the most recent Italian winner of the Tour de France's best climber's jersey (2022). Italy can thus shine in all three major disciplines of stage races.
Two Piedmontese riders will receive a particularly warm welcome on their home roads: Ganna, who was forced to abandon in stage 1 of the Tour de France (concussion) and resumed training a month before the start of La Vuelta, and Matteo Sobrero, in top form after his recent third place in the Tour de Pologne. At the end of the first stage in Novara, Ganna will be close to his hometown Verbania, on the shores of Lake Maggiore. The following day, Sobrero will start the second stage in his hometown Alba, near Montelupo Albese, where his father Giorgio produces renowned wines. In his only appearance in La Vuelta, in 2023, Ganna won the time trial in Valladolid, which is back on the programme this year, and finished second in three bunch sprints (Burriana, Iscar and Madrid). That same year, Sobrero wore the KOM jersey for a day and finished second in stage 9.
Giulio Ciccone is also in great form. He won the Clasica San Sebastian on his return to competition after abandoning the Giro d'Italia (stage 14) while in seventh place overall.
Antonio Tiberi was fourth and wearing the white jersey in La Vuelta 24 when he had to withdraw due to heatstroke (stage 9). He returns hungry for revenge and full of confidence after his second place in Poland. Giulio Pellizzari (6th in the Giro) and Marco Frigo (2nd in a stage of La Vuelta 24) are the two other big Italian hopes in contention in La Vuelta 25. Winner of the KOM standings in this year's Giro and 2nd in the Vuelta a Burgos, Lorenzo Fortunato is awaited in the mountains, starting with stage 2 in Limone Piemonte. Keep an eye too on veteran Damiano Caruso, 37, who finished fifth in the Giro last May.
BIG CITIES AND SMALL TOWNS
La Vuelta is more than a race, as demonstrated by the initiative “La Vuelta es más”, seeking to inspire, connect, and mobilize as many people as possible, pedaling together towards a more united, supportive, and sustainable world. From Reggia di Venaria, on the outskirts of Turin, to Madrid, La Vuelta 25 starts and finishes in two major European metropolitan areas. Crowds are expected in great numbers to cheer on the riders across almost 3,200 kilometres of racing, visiting four countries, as they pass through big cities and small towns to share the passion of the Spanish Grand Tour with everyone.
From Piedmont to Madrid, the race will stop in 36 different stage towns. On the opposite end of the spectrum from the Spanish capital, 17 of these municipalities have fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, with the population being under 5,000 in 14. As soon as day 2, after Turin awards the first Roja, riders will head to Limone Piemonte, home to 1,338 inhabitants (the 6th lowest figure in this year’s race). The smallest stage town of La Vuelta 25 will be visited at the end of stage 7, when the race leaves Andorra and heads to the Cerler ski resort (120 inhabitants). Stage 21 will be a day of contrast, from Alalpardo (4,523 inhabitants) to Madrid (3,332,035 inhabitants).
GO FIT TAKES US TO THE STAGE
La Vuelta es Más partners with GO fit, the official supplier of the first three stages of La Vuelta 25, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Spanish Grand Tour and inspire people everywhere to get on their saddles. On Thursday, before the team presentation, a bike session will bring together forty amateur cyclists right in front of the stage where the professionals will parade. A 45-minute video will celebrate the legacy of the Spanish Grand Tour with footage exploring the race’s history race since its start in 1935. The session will feature Fabio Aru, winner of La Vuelta in 2015 and GO fit’s ambassador in Italy.
