La Vuelta a España starts from inside the Burgos Cathedral and the riders exit the Gothic building through its main entrance to enter a first ascent at approximately 5%. A short drop and the route continues on another climb. This one is 1.2 kilometres long and climbs at 7.1% to the Castle of Burgos. The first part is particulary steep, while there’s also a cobbled sector of 200 metres.
The only time check is at the top.
Following a descent the last 3.5 kilometres of the time trial are played out on the flat. The race returns to the Cathedral for a finish outside of the building.
It’s the first ever Big Start in Burgos, although La Vuelta visited the town in northern Spain dozens of times. Burgos hosted fifteen stage starts and seventeen stage finishes. The last time was six years ago, when the 17th stage saw Tom Dumoulin storm into the red jersey with a commanding ITT victory on an undulating parcours of 38.7 kilometres.
Another interesting read: results 1st stage 2021 Vuelta.
Vuelta a España 2021 stage 1: route, profiles, more
Click on the images to zoom