Vuelta: La Vuelta cancels the stages that were to go through Portugal due to the coronavirus

The Tour of Spain 2020, which will be held between October 20 and November 8, not finally go through Portugal as planned by restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, The organizing company, Unipublic, has announced, therefore it will be developed exclusively in Spanish territory.

“Due to the exceptional situation caused by the COVID-19 health crisis and the impossibility of guaranteeing optimal conditions for the development of the test in the territory, the municipalities of Porto, Matosinhos and Viseu, in agreement with Unipublic, they have decided that the route of La Vuelta does not pass through Portugal, “says the statement of the test.

The stage 15 of the Spanish round was going to be disputed between the Pontevedra town of Mos and the Portuguese towns of Porto and Matosinhos. Meanwhile, stage 16 was to leave the city of Viseu and end in Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca).

In this way, both stages will see their course altered. The alternative venues to Porto, Matosinhos and Viseu “are already confirmed”, but will be announced “in the coming weeks”, when work has been completed “on their corresponding profiles”.

Weeks ago, La Vuelta announced that the official departure in Utrecht (Netherlands) was canceled, and with it the first three stages. After this new modification in the route, the organization has assured that “no further changes are expected.”

“In a situation as exceptional as the one we live in, we have to be flexible and be open and prepared to make these kinds of decisions and changes,” said the director general of La Vuelta, Javier Guilln. “It is a shame not to be able to visit Portugal in 2020, but we do not want that flame to go out: we will keep alive the relationships and ties that we have been weaving and we will feed them in the future so that we can return to this country that has treated us so well” , he added.

The 2020 Tour will be held between the October 20 and November 8. The first of the 18 stages will be held between Irn and Arrate (Gipuzkoa) on Tuesday, October 20, and Madrid will host the arrival on November 8, making this 2020 Tour the longest in its history, surpassing the final in a September 30, 2001 edition.