Tag: climbing the Pyrenees

If you love cycling you probably love climbing. And for sure you will be curious to know the best cycling climbs in the world. Recently, the "Cyclist" English online magazine released a list of top 100 cycling climbs, which made me very curious. It is a very good job and also challenging to get just 100 out of all the climbs you can find in the cycling world. Some obvious mistakes (Zoncolan or Madonna del Ghisallo are missing). It is worth having a look at the complete list, here. Worth mentioning the unbeatable top 3: 1) Stelvio, 2) Ventoux 3) Galibier. Also interesting to mention the number of climbs in the most important mountain ranges: we have  6 climbs in the Dolomites, we have 13 in the Pyrenees and 33 climbs in the Alps (including french, Italian, Swiss, and Austrian alps). Bizarre destinations as Taiwan are also included. My favorite list though is the 1000 climbs included in Challenge BIG. (Brevet International du Grimpeur). This is a much longer list, 1000 climbs all over the world!! They are not in a certain order, but it is "just" a "to-do" list. I am a member of this challenge since 1996. It is an amazing reference to visit whenever you plan a trip. The choice is top quality with 3 main criteria: Hardness, touristic and mediatic (being included in professional races). It is a must to visit this site! (In fact, it is a challenge to get during your whole life.) https://www.bigcycling.eu/en/home/index/intro/ The Hardest climbs Lately, I read another listing of the top 10 climbs: https://pjammcycling.com/zone/80.World-Top-10-Hardest-Cycling-Climbs  This article shows (in the opinion of the journalist)  the hardest climbs in the world, let me advance the top three: 1) Mauna Kea (Hawaii USA) 2) Al Jaadah Pass (Saudi Arabia) 3) Babusar Pass (Pakistan).