Organizers of the Vuelta a España (open in new tab) have announced that the 2020 race will be reduced to 18 stages after the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the road racing season.

The scheduled start of the Vuelta in the Netherlands was canceled Wednesday morning (open in new tab), and Unipublic, the race's current organizer, announced that the race will instead start in the Basque Country on a route from Irun to Alate.

Unipublic has not yet announced the exact dates of the race; once the COVID-19 epidemic is under control and the Spanish government gives the go-ahead, the Spanish Grand Tour will be held in late October or November.

The Vuelta a España was scheduled to start in Utrecht and include a team time trial and two road stages (stage 2 finishing in Utrecht and stage 3 starting and finishing in Breda).

The Basque Country would host the Grande Pearl, with the first day of racing from Irun to Arate in Eibar. The stage will end with the Alto de Arate (7.2 km long with an average gradient of 6.2%), a Category 2 climb beginning in Eibar.

"Of course, when designing a race one would hope that it would not be necessary to make such a major change, but we must accept that given the current situation, and considering the institutional and logistical plans, it would be very difficult to replace the official departure at this late stage." Race Director Javier Guillén said.

And the second stage, 151 km from Pamplona to Lecumbelli, has the category 1 Alto de San Miguel 17 km before the finish. The third stage will use the Col du Tourmalet.

The last time the start of the Vuelta a España was held in the Basque Country was the team time trial in San Sebastián in 1961.

"The passion for cycling that has existed in the Basque Country since day one makes this change of plans all the more enjoyable," said race director Guillen.

"In any case, we can only hope that this unprecedented health crisis will be resolved as soon as possible and everything will return to normal, including La Vuelta (which in 2021 will again consist of the traditional format and duration of 21 stages and 2 rest days)," he concluded. The organizer, Unipublic, has not yet announced the date of the race.

Holding the start of the Vuelta will be a boon for the Basque Country, which lost the World Tour races of Clasica San Sebastian and Iturria Basque on Wednesday when the 2020 World Tour race was cancelled.