Tour Of Spain 2024 Cycling Race Confirmed As Starting From Portuguese Capital Of Lisbon

THE riders participating in the 2024 Tour of Spain cycling race will set off from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.

Carlos Moedas, the president of Lisbon’s Municipal Council (CML), officially confirmed the exciting news this Sunday, September 17.

The Tour of Spain had not previously confirmed any stages for the 2024 event, but now everything has been negotiated and agreed as announced today by Moedas, according to sicnoticias.pt.

It was also announced by Unipublic at the start of today’s final stage of the 2023 race which started in the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela and finished in Madrid, as reported by cyclingnews.com.

The race has only started outside Spain on four previous occasions

As a result, three stages of the prestigious cycling event will be held on Portuguese territory, on September 17, 18 and 19. The start of the Tour of Spain has only ever been staged outside of the country on four other occasions previously.

Along with the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia, Spains la Vuelta is one of the sport’s prestigious Grand Tours. This is only the second time in the history of A Vuelta that it will have started from Lisbon. The last time it occurred was back in 1997 when it was done to promote the fact that Expo-98 was being held in the city.

Portugal and Spain can work together to stage major sporting events

With Portugal and Spain making a joint bid to stage the 2030 Football World Cup, and the Portuguese capital being chosen for the Vuelta exit, it serves as an example of how the two countries can work together to organise major events in the future.

When the pack set off from Lisbon in 1997, the riders covered the first stage from the Jerónimo to the Autódromo do Estoril. Then they continued to Évora, Vilamoura and Loulé before finally heading across the Guadiana International Bridge that connects Portugal with Spain to enter the province of Huelva.

This year’s Vuelta a España came to an end in Madrid this afternoon with the American Sepp Kuss taking the 2023 crown. He was riding for the Jumbo-Visma team, based in the Netherlands. Today’s victory marked a series of three wins in the event with three different riders, reported cyclingnews.com.

😱 Un final totalmente de LOCURA. ¡Emoción hasta el último metro de La Vuelta! 🔥Así ha sido el ÚLTIMO KM.

What a crazy finalé 😱 thrilling racing until the last meter of La Vuelta! Watch the LAST KM… 🔥#LaVuelta23 pic.twitter.com/IFK5EJK8Sp

— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 17, 2023