Videos: 70th Vuelta unveiled, including "toughest stage ever"

The route of the 2015 Vuelta, unveiled on Saturday, features six summit finishes – unusually, none of them have been featured in the race before, and all are tackled within the opening fortnight of what is the 70th edition of the race.

It includes one stage in the Pyrenean principaility of Andorra that Movistar team manager Eusebio Unzue has described as the toughest he has ever seen in a Grand Tour.

Here’s a fly-through video of the route of the race, which begins with a team time trial in Marbella on 22 August and concludes three weeks later in Madrid; the capital was missed out last year, when the Vuelta finished with an individual time trial in Santiago de Compostella.

If the name of the arrival destination of Stage 2 sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen a YouTube video of the adrenaline-junkie magnet, El Caminito del Rey; the once dilapidated mountain walkway has been restored, and reopens this year.

It’s the 80th anniversary of the Spanish race, the most junior of cycling’s three Grand Tours, and this video shows the men who have stood on the top step of the podium during its 70 editions.

There’s also a video showcasing some of the highlights of last year’s edition, won by Alberto Contador of Tinkoff-Saxo with Team Sky’s Chris Froome second and Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde third.

It’s fair to say that with its theme of a vengeful Greek goddess throwing everything she can at the peloton, it’s gone a bit OTT in the dramatic stakes.

Stage 1 TTT
Saturday 22 August
Puerto Banús > Marbella 7.4 km

Stage 2 Medium mountain
Sunday 23 August
Alhaurín de la Torre > Caminito del Rey 165 km

Stage 3 Flat Monday 24 August
Mijas > Málaga 164.6 km

Stage 4 Flat Tuesdayr 25 August
Estepona > Vejer de la Frontera 203 km

Stage 5 Flat
Wednesday 26 August
Rota > Alcalá de Guadaira 182 km

Stage 6 Medium mountain
Thursday 27 August
Córdoba > Sierra de Cazorla 204 km

Stage 7 Mountain
Friday 28 August
Jódar > La Alpujarra 188.3 km

Stage 8 Medium mountain
Saturday 29 August
Puebla de Don Fadrique > Murcia 188.6 km

Stage 9 Medium mountain
Sunday 30 August
Torrevieja > Cumbre del Sol. Benitachell 168.3 km

Stage 10 Medium mountain
Monday 31 August
Valencia > Castellón 152 km

Stage 11 Mountain
Wednesday 02 September
Andorra la Vella > Cortals d´Encamp 138 km

Stage 12 Flat
Thursday 03 September
Escaldes > Engordany. Andorra – Lleida 172.5 km

Stage 13 Flat
Friday 04 September
Calatayud > Tarazona 168 km

Stage 14 Mountain
Saturday 05 September
Vitoria > Alto Campoo. Fuente del Chivo 213 km

Stage 15 Mountain
Sunday 06 September
Comillas > Sotres. Cabrales 175 km

Stage 16 Mountain
Monday 07 September
Luarca > Ermita de Alba. Quiros 184 km

Stage 17 ITT
Wednesday 09 September
Burgos > Burgos 39 km

Stage 18 Medium mountain
Thursday 10 September
Roa > Riaza 204 km

Stage 19 Medium mountain
Friday 11 September
Medina del Campo > Ávila 185 km

Stage 20 Mountain
Saturday 12 September
San Lorenzo de El Escorial > Cercedilla 181 km

Stage 21 Flat
Sunday 13 September
Alcalá de Henares > Madrid 93.7 km