The determined effort to bring high-level sports to the Canary Islands by public institutions is particularly evident on the island of Gran Canaria, which recently hosted the Copa del Rey of basketball, being selected as a host for the 2030 FIFA World Cup or turning the Rally Islas Canarias for the first time in its history into a World Rally Championship event.
2026 will now be the new date to highlight in neon on the calendars of sports and cycling enthusiasts in particular. The intense negotiations over the last two years between the councils of Gran Canaria and Tenerife with the company Unipublic, organizers of the Vuelta a España, will bring the Spanish round back to the Canary roads for the first time in 38 years, with the peloton having to conquer the mythical peaks of Pico de las Nieves and Teide in two of the four stages that will take place on the two islands, which will determine the champions of the preeminent cycling event in our country and one of the top three worldwide, alongside the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia.
The sports and tourism departments have once again joined forces to bring a world-class sporting event that will place the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife at the epicenter of the cycling world during its passage through the island roads.
Decisive Stages in the Canary Islands
The agreement was reached last night in Tenerife and will be made public in the coming days with the details of a negotiation that was complex but has ultimately succeeded as another management success by both councils, in addition to investing around six million euros – similar to other sports events held in Gran Canaria such as the Rally Islas Canarias or the Copa del Rey in basketball, which have brought enormous economic returns, as well as influencing the perception of the Archipelago as an ideal destination for outdoor sports all year round.
The only previous occurrence was in 1988, due to the logistical challenges of having to transport the entire peloton from the peninsula to the Archipelago. This edition, the 91st of the race, will feature a total of four stages that will be crucial to determine the champion of La Vuelta a España, starting in Monaco and finishing in the Canary Islands.
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