La Vuelta Femenina has yet to publish its full route for 2025, but the first major piece of the jigsaw was revealed on Monday, with news that the race will kick off in Barcelona.
The week-long Spanish race will start on May 4 in the Catalan capital, marking yet another chapter in Barcelona's rich history of hosting top cycling events.
The opening stage of La Vuelta Femenina comes two years after Barcelona played host to the first weekend of the elite men's Vuelta a España, in 2023, with an opening night-time team time trial. That was followed by an uphill finish the next day in Montjuic Park, where the Volta a Catalunya currently holds its final stage every March.
La Vuelta Femenina's start is also a year before the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in Barcelona, scheduled for July 2026.
The Barcelona announcement is the third time, too, that a Mediterranean coastal city has played host to La Vuelta Femenina's opening stage, after Torrevieja in 2023 and Valencia in 2024.
The current version of the race began life as a one-day Classic in 2015, coinciding with the final stage of the Vuelta a Esapña. It gradually expanded to a week-long event and changed its name to La Vuelta Femenina in 2023, the same year that it shifted from its previous September slot to new dates in early May.
The current defending champion is Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ), preceded in 2023 by Dutch compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten.
