A hard Mediterranean tour to forget Israel’s schism

Not a word about the Vuelta and its circumstances about what happened last September. Silence and forgetting are a way of editorializing reality, Israel and its cycling team have generated chaos that is difficult to forget as long as we live. A formula to respond to the massacre of the Palestinian people.

Israel no longer exists, it died during the takeover of the company run by Andrés Iniesta. And now it is called NSN Cycling Team, a team with a first division license that no one responds to because it has broken with Sylvan Adams’ past and his proximity to Netanyahu.

Perhaps now they are tearing their hair out in the Canaries, whose political leaders have decided to break off the negotiations they had with the Vuelta a España to contest the last four stages on the islands due to the probable presence of the Israel team, which disappeared from cycling in this interval of confusion regarding the final point of the 2026 Vuelta.

“The Vuelta 26 will continue to maintain the international character of the event. “It will be an edition with a marked Mediterranean character, from start to finish in Andalusia”, summarizes Javier Guilléngeneral director of the Vuelta.

The round begins on the Formula 1 circuit with a 9-kilometer time trial and a different view of the port of Monaco, its yachts, its beautiful, lightly dressed people, the curve of Santa Devota, La Rascasse or the port access tunnel, temples of F1 converted to cycling.

Continue towards Font Romeu and Andorra, mountains in abundance, long passes, passes to elevate the public and show the hardness of cycling whose essence is the peaks.

“Monaco will mark a prestigious start for an edition which will visit historic cities, passes that are part of our history and unique climbs, before ending in a unique enclave like the Alhambra, the red fortress of Granada“, says Guillén.

Through the Mediterranean enclave, a salad of ports, stretches of land en route to Castellón (3.5 kilometers after the port of Bartolo), high finishes in Valdelinares and Aitana, which celebrates 25 years in the Spanish race.

And from stage 12, another arrival in the mountains (Calar Alto), the Vuelta enters ten days in Andalusia to form a diversified itinerary. There are no stages in the north, in the two Castilles, in Madrid or in Aragon. Andalusian roads decide the Vuelta 26.

A 32-kilometer time trial between Puerto de Santa María and Jerez promises to be decisive. And more ports, La Pandera, Peñas Blancas and the final fireworks of the penultimate stage, through the Sierra Nevada, with two passages through Hazallanas, El Purche (all first category) and the epilogue to Collado Alguacil, 8 kilometers with ramps at 20 percent.

The final stage takes place in Granada, the last stretch of the Alhambra, with a one kilometer climb and four steps next to one of Spain’s jewels. “The bike has the best and largest stadium in the worldToday, in 2026, the scene where cyclists will thrill us will have a marked Mediterranean character,” analyzes Guillén.

“Welcoming the official start of La Vuelta 26 in the Principality of Monaco is a source of pride and a unique opportunity to show the world all the facets of our country, sporting excellence, commitment to the environment and international openness,” declared Prince Albert of Monaco during the presentation ceremony at the Salle des Etoiles. “It is an honor to offer the Vuelta, the cyclists, the teams and all cycling fans a prestigious stage to start the 2026 edition in the most beautiful way.”