Grand Départ Monaco: how the 2026 Vuelta begins in the principality
The 2026 Vuelta a España opens in Monaco with a time trial, followed by a long stage through Provence. A guide to the unusual start.
The last country to have started all three Grand Tours
Monaco previously started the Giro and the Tour, and with the 2026 Vuelta becomes the first country in the world to have hosted the start of all three Grand Tours — a unique honour for the tiny Mediterranean principality.
A time trial past the casino
The opening stage is a short, technical 9.6 km time trial, with a tricky, lumpy section past the famous Monte Carlo casino before the route flattens out and speeds up. Ideal terrain for explosive time-trial specialists.
Through Provence to Spain
After the time trial comes the longest stage of this Vuelta, straight through Provence to Manosque. Only on day five, via Andorra, does the race caravan finally reach Spanish soil — an unusually long run-in for a race that's still called 'Spanish'.
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