The 2020 Vuelta a España will not visit Portugal, race organizer Unipublic has announced, as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has made the original route impossible.

Stages 15 and 16 were scheduled to pass through northern Portugal, visiting Matosinhos in Porto from Galicia before returning from Viseu to Salamanca in central Spain. The host cities to replace Porto, Matosinhos, and Viseu have already been decided. The new stages will be announced within the next few weeks.

"In exceptional circumstances such as the current one, we have to be flexible and understand these kinds of decisions and changes," said race director Javier Guigen.

"We regret that we will not be able to visit Portugal in 2020, but we do not want to extinguish this flame. We will maintain and develop the ties we have built and will be able to return to this country that has served us so well."

Both stages are mostly flat and will likely feature a sprint finish before the final stage showdown on the summit of Alto de la Covatilla. The change comes after the scheduled Dutch start was cancelled due to COVID-19, reducing the race to 18 stages.

The 2020 Vuelta a España will be the last race on the revised race calendar after the UCI announced new dates last week. The race, which overlaps with the Giro d'Italia, Paris-Roubaix, and Il Lombardia, will run from October 20 to November 8.

Portugal has hosted the Vuelta in the past, most notably the first foreign start in Lisbon in 1997, the last time the race visited its Spanish neighbor. The race will reach a summit finish on the Col du Tourmalet on stage 9.