The 2020 Vuelta a Espana will start with three stages in the Netherlands

Organizers say the race’s 75th edition will begin with stages in the provinces of Utrecht and North Brabant, with riders going through 34 Dutch municipalities in three days

More than 400 kilometers (248 miles) of the Grand Tour event will be in Dutch territory before riders return to Spain.

The race will start on a Friday evening with a team time trial of 23.7 kilometres through the streets of Utrecht. After a technical first part, the teams will ride alongside the Singel on the Meliebaan, the oldest cycling path in the Netherland, from where they will go to Overvecht, Leidsche Rijn and finish in the Jaarbeursplein.

The second stage starts on Saturday morning in the historic centre of 's-Hertogenbosch, also known as Den Bosch, and the peloton will go through a 183-kilometre route in which the first mountain points can be earned in the Grebbeberg. Then the riders will go over the hilly ridge of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, Amersfoort and finish at the Utrecht Science Park.

The last day of La Vuelta in the Netherlands will start in Breda's historic castle to go through the province of West Brabant, facing the Brabantse Wal and meaningful places where the sport of cycling in the country was born like St. Willebord, Alphen Chaam and Hoogerheide. The finish line is in front of the Chasse theatre of Breda.

The 2009 edition of the Vuelta also started in the Netherlands.

The announcement was made last Wednesday in the Dutch town of Breda.

This year’s race will have stages going through France and Andorra.

British rider Simon Yates is the defending Spanish Vuelta champion.

"We will make the Vuelta 2020 into one big party for the cities and the regions," said the Mayor of Breda Paul Depla. "Not just along the circuit itself, but also in the run-up to the start of the Vuelta, the cities and provinces will be coloured red."

The CEO of La Vuelta Javier Guillen mentioned that the race will celebrate a special anniversary in 2020. "La Vuelta 2020 will be the 75th edition of our cycling Tour so we wanted a special start," he said, "We could, with the Netherlands as a cycling country and Utrecht as a starting place (first city in the world that hosts all three major cycling tours), give the Vuelta a unique touch."