Race director Javier Guillén said he does not anticipate any further changes to the 2020 Vuelta a España following Saturday's announcement that two stages in Portugal have been removed from the route due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Guillén said that for stages 15 and 16, he has already found alternative finish and start points in Spain and will announce the exact stage route as soon as it is determined. He told EFE News Agency (open in new tab) that he does not envisage any other changes to the 2020 Vuelta.

"Once the new stages are announced, there will be no further changes to the 18 stages that make up this year's Vuelta a España," Guillén said.

The 2020 Vuelta was originally scheduled to run from August 14 to September 6, but the race was shortened to 18 stages and postponed from October 20 to November 8 after the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the event and the UCI calendar was revised.

The shortened Vuelta route has already had three opening stages in the Netherlands cut, and it was announced on Saturday that the race would not enter Portugal. The summit finish of stage 6, Col du Tourmalet, France, will remain unchanged.

"When the [new] schedule for the Vuelta was set, we had already said that the route could change, and we were talking about a stage to Porto," Guillén said.

"We were talking about the stage to Porto," Guillén said.

Stage 15 of the Vuelta was scheduled to enter Portugal from Galicia and finish in Porto. The next day's stage was scheduled to start in Biseu and return to Spain, finishing in Ciudad Rodrigo.

"Porto expressed certain doubts about COVID-19 and we could not confirm its feasibility, so we reached an agreement that if it cannot be held this year, we will make the next plan with other Portuguese cities as well as Porto," said Gijen.

"Obviously, we will not be able to make it in time for the departure of Biseu the next day. We already have alternative venues in place and will contact them as soon as we have fine-tuned the route."