- Stage 7: Vall d'Alba - Aramón Valdelinares
- Date: August 28, 2026
- Distance: 149.8km
- Elevation gain: 3,597m
- Start time: 13:40 CEST
- Finish time: 17:19 CEST
Stage details
Stage 7 of the Vuelta a España leaves the province of Castellón and heads inland into the Aragón mountains, finishing at the ski resort of Aramón Valdelinares for the second summit finish of the 2026 Vuelta a España.
It's a stage that could well mark some more differences among the favourites, coming after an already charged day of racing on stage 6 where, on the stage including gravel, Enric Mas (Movistar) managed to chase down what had looked set to be another solo exhibition from the dominating race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Mas may not have managed to pass Pogačar but it did shuffle the Movistar rider into second overall ahead of Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who is now 47 seconds back from Mas. Stage 6 started stretching out the gaps behind race leader Pogačar, with the rest of the top ten all sitting within a minute of each other at the start of the day, but that turning into three minutes by the end of it.
The short but testing route on stage 7 could stretch those gaps even further, but also offers on opportunity for a rebound for any of the contenders who had a bad day, such as Oscar Onley (Netcompany Ineos) who suffered after trying to match Pogačar when he attacked.
Starting in Vall d’Alba, the 149.8km route heads generally northwest, over undulating terrain, tackling the climbs of the Puerto de El Remolcador and Alto de Zucaina before entering the higher terrain of the province of Teruel.
That begins with the ascent of Puerto Fuente de Rubielos, and the road continues to climb to the second category Puerto de San Rafael before the final 9.8km climb at 5.9% to the highest ski resort in Teruel at 1,951 metres.
Climbs
- Puerto de El Remolcador (cat. 2, 12.4km at 4.3%), km. 52.2
- Alto de Zucaina (cat. 3, 5.5km at 5%), km. 66.5
- Puerto Fuente de Rubielos (cat. 3, 6km at 6.3%), km. 104.9
- Puerto de San Rafael (cat. 2, 11.1km at 4.3%)
- Aramón Valdelinares (cat. 1, 9.8km at 5.9%), km. 149.8
Sprints
- Mora de Rubielos, km. 123.3
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