September 2 Cycling’s Tour of Spain comes to Lorca

A 153-kilometre route from Cartagena includes Unión, Portmán, Los Alcázares, Fuente Álamo, Totana and Aledo

Cycling’s three-week Tour of Spain (La Vuelta a España) is now well under way and the 11^th stage, taking place on 2^nd September, will be fought out on a 153.8-kiloometre route between Cartagena and Lorca.

On the way, the riders pass through La Unión, Portmán, Los Belones, Los Nietos, Los Urrutias, Los Alcázares, Torre-Pacheco, Roldán, Balsapintada, Fuente Álamo, Cuevas de Reyllo, Cánovas, Los Canteros, El Paretón, Totana and Aledo, before the finish line is reached on Avenida Presidente Adolfo Suárez, the old main road heading south out of the city of Lorca on the way to Puerto Lumbreras.

This is a major Sporting event, one of the big three of cycling’s grand tours along with the Tour de France and the Giro a Italia, and for this reason traffic in Lorca will be severely disrupted in order to accommodate the race and all of those who accompany it, including large crowds of spectators.

This is the fourth time a stage has started or finished in Lorca, and on the day a special area known as ‘Parque Vuelta’, which follows the tour throughout, will be set up in the city. The previous instances were the finish of a stage from Almería in 1970, another finish after a stage from Guadix in 2010 and then the start of a stage up to the observatory of Calar Alto in 2017, won by the Colombian climber Miguel Ángel López.

Images: Ayto Lorca, lavuelta.es

For more local information about Lorca, including news and what’s on, enquire at the tourist office (Palacio de Guevara, telephone 968 441914, email lorcaturismo@lorca.es, or visit the home page of Lorca Today.