This year’s Tour of Spain route is out and, like every year, I took a good look to see where I might go and watch a stage (even though this has never actually happened).

Take a look at the top empty area on the map above. Much of this is the Pyrenees, which in my memory, the Vuelta has always visited. Instead the 2021 version is making a big loop of the rest of the country, with lots of stages in the sunny south and mountainous north.

This year is the Vuelta of Cathedrals, so they say on their website. The race begins in Burgos, a lovely mid-sized city in the northeast of the country, which, I can confirm, has a fabulous cathedral.

After 3 weeks of circling Spain, the Vuelta finishes (with a 33km time trial) at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, probably the most famous in Spain because it is the objective of every self-respecting pilgrim who walks or rides across Spain to reach the shrine of St. James, along the Camino de Santiago.

I did this with Shoko 21 years ago and can highly recommend it, even if you aren’t a catholic. You better like to walk (or ride), though. It’s about 750 km from the French border to the steps of the cathedral.

Will I go and watch a stage or two this year finally? If I have any tours this summer, definitely not. If I don’t (and we are let free to roam around Europe), maybe it’s time to walk the Camino again…I’ll certainly the free time.