Monday 24 August 2026 – Vuelta a España stage 3: Gruissan → Font Romeu (174 km)

Route

Stage 3 of the Vuelta a España 2026 covers 174 kilometres from Gruissan on the French Mediterranean coast to Font Romeu in the Pyrenees. The first 130 kilometres are flat. This is followed by one long final climb to the finish at 1,935 metres altitude: a unipuerto stage.

After the start in Gruissan, the route runs via Sigean, Rivesaltes and Perpignan into the interior. There is an intermediate sprint at Prades at km 129. From Villefranche-de-Conflent (km 129) the road gradually starts climbing towards Olette. At km 138.4 (35.6 km from the finish) the Col de Mont-Louis begins (19.4 km at 4.8%), a category 1 climb with the summit at km 157.8 (16.2 km from the finish). After a short descent, the final climb to Font Romeu begins at km 164.2 (9.8 km from the finish) (9.8 km at 5%), which runs uninterrupted to the line. At the top of the Col de Mont-Louis there is an intermediate sprint with bonus seconds (6-4-2).

Together the two climbs form a continuous final climb of 27 kilometres at 4.5%. The final kilometre averages 4.6%. The total elevation gain of the stage is approximately 2,639 metres.

Final kilometres

After the summit of the Col de Mont-Louis, 16.2 kilometres from the finish, a short descent follows. At 9.8 kilometres from the line, the final climb to Font Romeu begins, which continues uninterrupted to the finish. There is no flat section in the finale: the road climbs continuously to the finish at 1,935 metres altitude.

Recent editions

Font Romeu is a finish location in a grand tour for the first time this year. There is therefore no direct results history at this finish. The Col de Mont-Louis has featured in a grand tour before: in the 2021 Tour de France the climb was tackled in the stage to Andorra la Vella, won by Sepp Kuss (now Team Visma | Lease a Bike) from an early breakaway. Gruissan was already a stage town in the Vuelta in 2017: Yves Lampaert won a windy stage that year, to the surprise of the sprinters.

Scenarios

A day for the general classification riders. Tadej Pogačar wears the red leader's jersey after the opening time trial and stage 2; whether he will attack immediately on the final climb to Font Romeu remains an open question.

A stage for the climbers. The continuous final climb of 27 kilometres at 4.5% gives climbers with good endurance a chance at the stage win.

Local

None of the participants in this Vuelta were born in Gruissan or Font Romeu. Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via lies at over 1,800 metres altitude in the French Pyrenees and is known as an altitude training centre: athletes have trained there for decades because of the high-altitude climate. The town is also home to the Four solaire d'Odeillo, a well-known solar energy research institute.

Weather forecast

On Monday, variable cloud is expected in Font Romeu with a chance of rain, a maximum of 19.8°C and a minimum of 10.6°C. Around 24.8 mm of rainfall is expected, mainly on the final climb. In the final 50 km there will be a southwesterly wind with gusts of up to 28.9 km/h.

TV guide

• Eurosport 1 — 14:45
• HBO Max — 14:45
• Sporza (online) — 14:50
• VRT1 — 14:50