It may sound too far from reality but apparently the Dutch city of Utrecht has made a bid to host the opening of the 2020 Vuelta a Espana aiming to become the first city to host a race of all three Grand Tours; Giro, la Vuelta and The Tour.
In 2010, the Dutch city hosted the end of stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia and then the Tour de France’s Grand Depart opening time trial in 2015.
The first city to have hosted three Grand Tour stages
The Vuelta a Espana is considered to be the Grand Tour with the smoothest routes and challenges. The tour has moved its grand opening outside of Spain for the first time in 1997. The last foreign opening was in 2017 in Nimes, France.
“After the experiences of the Giro and the Tour, the next step is the Vuelta. It’s the logical thing to happen. We would like to be the first city in the world to have had the finish of three Grand Tour stages,” Cor Jansen from Business Peloton Utrecht stated soon after making the bid to host the Vuelta a Espana.
“We would finish this Grand Slam. And with this we would try to bring the Tour de France to our streets for 2025, it’s a possibility that we are weighing up.”
According to L’Equipe, if Utrecht’s application to welcome the Vuelta a Espana is approved, Utrecht, despite being unable to avoid a clash with the Tokyo Olympics, is considering 2020 to be the best time for them to host the Grand Tour.
?? 21 etapas y 3271,4 km – ¡Nos vemos el 25 de agosto en Málaga!#LaVuelta18
?? 21 stages & 3271,4 km – See you on August 25th in Malaga!#LaVuelta18 pic.twitter.com/Cim7nzt4gG
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) January 13, 2018
