- Stage 2: Monaco - Manosque
- Date: August 23, 2026
- Distance: 214.3km
- Elevation gain: 3,018m
- Start time: 12:16 CEST
- Finish time: 17:15 CEST
Stage details
Stage 2 heads into the South of France for the longest stage of the Vuelta a España, at 214.3km. This hilly stage is hard to predict, it’s unusually early for such a breakaway-friendly test, and it will likely come down to a battle between the sprinters and the puncheurs.
The riders will line up at Place du Palais Princier and roll towards the race start at the Jardin Exotique before heading west into France, reaching Nice via the Moyenne Corniche after 10 kilometres. Some 20 kilometres later comes the climb into the Provençal mountains, via the Alto Châteauneuf-Grasse and the Col de Saint-Andrieu. The final 100 kilometres wind through a constant series of steep ascents, descents, and bends, before dropping down towards the Durance river basin and tackling the technical, narrow, steep-gradient finishing climb into Manosque.
Climbs
- Alto Châteauneuf-Grasse (cat. 3, 12.8km at 2.9%), km. 44.5
- Col de Saint-Andrieu (cat. 3, 4.7km at 4.8%), km. 104.6
Sprints
- Gréoux-les-Bains, km. 178.5
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