2017 Vuelta a España

The 2017 Vuelta a España is a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that is scheduled to take place in Spain between 19 August and 10 September 2017.^[1][2] The race will be the 72nd edition of the Vuelta a España and will be the final Grand Tour of the 2017 cycling season. The race is scheduled to start in Nîmes, France and finish in Madrid.^[1] It will be the first time the race has started in France and only the third time it has started outside of Spain, after 1997 (Portugal) and 2009 (Netherlands).^[1]

Route and stages

The route of the 2017 Vuelta a Espana was revealed on 13 January 2017. Keeping with the tradition of the past few years, the race starts off with a team time trial. However, the race starts in France, just the third time in history that the Spanish Grand Tour has started outside of its home country. The third stage sees the race leave France, with a mountain stage to Andorra la Vella. The first uphill finale comes on stage 5, with a summit finish atop the Ermita de Santa Lucía. The queen stage of the 2017 Vuelta is stage 20, which features a summit finish atop the Alto de l'Angliru. Finally, the race ends with a customary circuit race in Madrid.

List of stages^[3]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	19 August	Nîmes – Nîmes	13.8 km (9 mi)		Team time trial
2	20 August	Nîmes – Gruissan, Grand Narbonne	201 km (125 mi)		Flat stage
3	21 August	Prades Confluent Canigó – Andorra	158.5 km (98 mi)		Mountain stage
4	22 August	Escaldes-Engordany – Tarragona	193 km (120 mi)		Flat stage
5	23 August	Benicàssim – Alcossebre	173.4 km (108 mi)		Hilly stage
6	24 August	Villarreal – Sagunto	198 km (123 mi)		Hilly stage
7	25 August	Llíria – Cuenca	205.2 km (128 mi)		Hilly stage
8	26 August	Hellín – Xorret de Catí	184 km (114 mi)		Hilly stage
9	27 August	Orihuela – Cumbre del Sol	176.3 km (110 mi)		Flat stage
	28 August	Province of Alicante			Rest day
10	29 August	Caravaca Jubilar – ElPozo Alimentación	171 km (106 mi)		Flat stage
11	30 August	Lorca – Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto	188 km (117 mi)		Hilly stage
12	31 August	Motril – Antequera	161.4 km (100 mi)		Hilly stage
13	1 September	Coín – Tomares	197 km (122 mi)		Flat stage
14	2 September	Écija – Sierra de La Pandera	185.5 km (115 mi)		Mountain stage
15	3 September	Alcalá la Real – Alto Hoya de la Mora	127 km (79 mi)		Mountain stage
	4 September	Logroño			Rest day
16	5 September	Circuito de Navarra – Logroño	42 km (26 mi)		Individual time trial
17	6 September	Villadiego – Monumento Vaca Pasiega	180 km (112 mi)		Mountain stage
18	7 September	Suances – Santo Toribio de Liébana	168.5 km (105 mi)		Hilly stage
19	8 September	Caso – Gijón	153 km (95 mi)		Hilly stage
20	9 September	Corvera de Asturias – Alto de l'Angliru	119.2 km (74 mi)		Mountain stage
21	10 September	Arroyomolinos – Madrid	101.9 km (63 mi)		Flat stage
	Total		3,297.7 km (2,049 mi)

Classification leadership

The Vuelta a España has four classifications for which jerseys are awarded daily to the rider leading the classification. The primary classification is known as the General Classification, or "GC". A rider's standing in the General Classification is determined by adding up the finishing times from each of the previous stages, including any time bonuses accrued, if applicable. The rider with the lowest cumulative time is the leader of the General Classification, and wears the Red Jersey. The leader of the General Classification on the final day is considered the overall winner of the Vuelta a España.

The second category is the Points Classification. Riders accumulate points by placing highly in the stage finishes, as well as at intermediate sprints placed along the stage route. The rider with the most cumulative points is awarded the Green Jersey, and the leader of this classification on the final day is the overall winner of the Points Classification.

The next category is the Mountains Classification. Similar to the Points Classification, riders are awarded points in the Mountains Classification based on positions over the summit of categorized climbs along the route, as well as for finishing positions on a summit finish. Mountain passes are classified based on length, gradient, and position along the stage. The hardest climbs are categorized as "especial", followed by category 1, category 2, and category 3 in decreasing order of difficulty. At the end of each stage, the rider with the most points is awarded the polka dot jersey, and the leader of the classification over the summit of the final categorized climb in the race is considered the winner of the Mountains Classification, provided that the rider finishes the entire grand tour.

The final of the primary classifications is the Combination Classification. A rider's ranking in the Combination Classification is determined by tallying up his positions in the General Classification, the Points Classification, and the Mountains Classification. The rider with the highest overall position in these three classifications combined is the leader of the Combination Classification and wears the white jersey.

The final individual classification is the combativity award. This subjective prize is awarded to the rider considered the most combative, brave, or courageous during an individual stage, excluding the time trials. The daily winner wears a red number during the next days stage. On the final day of the race, the race jury decides who is the most combative rider for the entire Vuelta.

There is also the Team Classification, which is awarded to the team with the lowest cumulative time of the top three riders on the team.

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Combination classification	Team classification	Combativity award
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Final

References

External links

• Official website