Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol 2024

99 years old and counting, the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol has long been one of cycling's best-known early-season events. Typically warm weather in southern Spain in early February has always proved popular for riders looking to hone their Classics form as well as claim a victory in a race with a long and prestigious history of top-name winners, most recently Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in 2023.

With a name frequently shortened to 'Ruta del Sol' or even just 'Ruta', the  five-day race combines one or two flat stages with numerous hilly stages and short, punchy summit finishes. Occasionally, it includes a short individual time trial or heads into the mountains of Sierra Nevada for a summit finish.

Running concurrently with the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal, in recent years Andalucia's increasing preference for a tougher route has tended to attract more allrounders and out-and-out climbers than Classics specialists to its field of favourites. Thus its history of winners includes historic one-day stars like Freddy Maertens, Oscar Freire and Erik Zabel, as well as stage racers of the calibre of Chris Froome and Miguel Indurain.

Alejandro Valverde holds the current record for overall victories in Andalucia - five  - whilst in 2023 Pogačar succeeded in winning three stages of a possible five en route to a crushing outright triumph, leading the race from beginning to end.

Join Cyclingnews' coverage of the 2024 Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol 2024 with race reports, results, photo galleries, news and race analysis.

 Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol route

Image 1 of 5

The 2024 Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol kicks off with a very hilly stage in the province of Granada between Almuñecar and Cadiar, although the final categorized climb is some 50 kilometres from the finish. 

Stage 2 should see an uphill battle emerge on the cobbled slopes at Calatrava castle in Alcaudete, whilst stage 3's much flatter terrain could well conclude in a bunch sprint. 

Stage 4 features a technical finishing circuit tackled four times in the town of Lucena, while stage 5 will bring down the curtain on the 2024 edition with another flat finish in the southerly city of La Línea de la Concepción.

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol start list

Data powered by FirstCycling

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol Contenders 

Up-and-coming Spanish talent Juan Ayuso is currently the leading Spanish favourite, with two former overall winners, teammate Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) and Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) also in the mix. 

2023 Tour de France Alpine stage winner Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and his new teammate Victor Lafay could prove to be key opponents, while Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) and Ruben Guerreiro (Movistar) raced strongly in the first part of 2022 and 2023 respectively, each winning an edition of the AIUIa Tour and will be names to watch in southern Spain this February.


 

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol Schedule

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol 2024 teams

• Alpecin-Deceuninck 
• Bahrain Victorious 
• Burgos-BH
• Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
• Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
• Kern Pharma
• Euskatel-Euskadi
• Lotto-Dstny
• Movistar
• Flanders-Baloise
• Polti-Kometa
• UAE Team Emirates