If you ever decide to visit Catalonia and ride a bike, these are our best 5 loops you can try. Montseny mountains loop. 90 km, 2 big climbs (Coll Formic and Santa Fe del Montseny) and 1900 mts elevation. A true gift of catalan roads and a demanding ride (especially if you add the climb to Turó de l'Home!). On a working day, you will find zero traffic (or close to zero). The best part is the 25 km descent (yes! 25 km descent!) once you get to the top of Santa Fe. Stunning. See Strava route here: https://www.strava.com/activities/11650429207 Montserrat loop. Being close to Barcelona, some would try to cycle to Montserrat from the city of Barcelona, but we suggest an unbeatable loop with 80km, 2 climbs (Montserrat and Coll de l'Obac) and 1500 mts elevation . The starting point is Monistrol de Montserrat and a very good place for parking is the Cremallera train station. The views of the sacred catalan mountain are just amazing during most of the ride. We see how the mountain change shapes while we are surrounding the big mountain. See Strava route here: https://www.strava.com/activities/18358976330 Girona province north loop: Col de Banyuls and Sant Pere de Rodes. 96 km, 2 major climbs and 1700 mts elevation Starting at Perelada, a small town in Girona province, famous for the Casino and its summer concerts. The route gets to Espolla and climbs Col de Banyuls in a very little road with no traffic. Very steep descent to France to Banyuls sur Mer and back to Spain in the hilly coastal road. Once in Port de la Selva you climb to the Sant Pere de Rodes Monastery, a challenging and superbeautiful climb overlooking the sea. See Strava route here: https://www.strava.com/routes/3518895907270440540 The beginning of the Pyrenees: Coll de Bracons
If you ever decide to visit Catalonia and ride a bike, these are our best 5 loops you can try. Montseny mountains loop. 90 km, 2 big climbs (Coll Formic and Santa Fe del Montseny) and 1900 mts elevation. A true gift of catalan roads and a demanding ride (especially if you add the climb
Little by little, we know more details of Volta a Catalunya 2026 professional cycling race. And now we know that Volta a Catalunya will visit Coll de Pal again next March 2026 (the dates of Volta a Catalunya are March 23th-29th). It is indeed a big climb in Catalonia. Coll de Pal is a steep and long climb in the Berguedà region. One of the characteristics is that it is a dead end road. There is a small ski station on top, linked to La Molina station (which for many years has been included in Volta a Catalunya). The fact that it is a dead end makes it a very solitaire road, ideal for cyclists, as during the summer season the traffic is very scarce. The starting point is at Bagà, a little mountain town in center Catalonia (Berguedà region). The numbers show that Coll de Pal is a big climb in Catalonia, as they are pretty impressive: 19,8 km at a 6,3% average gradient, for a total elevation of 1254 meters. The altitude on top is 2054 meters, meaning that Coll de Pal is one of the few climbs over 2000 meters in the catalan Pyrenees. Not to be jealous to big climbs in the Pyrenees like Port de Bales or Aubisque! Coll de Pal has been stage ending in some professional races (very long ago, though!). Volta a Catalunya included Coll de Pal in 1978 and 1979, long time ago! More recently, the Setmana Catalana (another stages race that took place in Catalonia for a number of years), also included Coll de Pal in the editions of 2002, 2003 and 2005. In this last one, the winner was a certain Alberto Contador, in the early years of his carreer.
Little by little, we know more details of Volta a Catalunya 2026 professional cycling race. And now we know that Volta a Catalunya will visit Coll de Pal again next March 2026 (the dates of Volta a Catalunya are March 23th-29th). It is indeed a big climb in Catalonia. Coll de Pal is a steep
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).
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
The route of Volta a Catalunya professional cycling race for 2020 was unveiled a few days ago. It is a very special edition as it is the 100th edition of the oldest cycling race in Spain. The stages are the following: 3/23 Calella-Calella 3/24 TT Banyoles (Girona) 3/25 Canal Olimpic-Vallter 2000 (mountain finish) 3/26 Ripoll-Port Ainé (mountain finish) 3/27 La Pobla de Segur-Manresa 3/28 Tarragona-Mataró 3/29 Barcelona-Barcelona Volta a Catalunya 2020 includes two mountain finishes in the Pyrenees, at Vallter 2000 and Port Ainé. Both are first category climbs, included often in the route. Even if they can be very cold at this time of the year, both are great climbs, worth to cycle them up! The arrival to Port Ainé in 2012 was canceled due to cold and weather conditions. The details of the stages and participants will be confirmed in short, but in the last editions Volta a Catalunya had some of the best cyclists in the professional peloton: Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana, Chris Froome or Thomas de Gendt are some of the cyclists that usually take part of this important cycling race. If you would like to watch live any of the stages, feel free to contact us and we can organize a trip from Barcelona to cycle part of the stage and watch the arrival of the cyclists. Sag van is provided. Do not miss this unique opportunity!!
The route of Volta a Catalunya professional cycling race for 2020 was unveiled a few days ago. It is a very special edition as it is the 100th edition of the oldest cycling race in Spain. The stages are the following: 3/23 Calella-Calella 3/24 TT Banyoles (Girona) 3/25 Canal Olimpic-Vallter 2000 (mountain finish) 3/26 Ripoll-Port
Coll de Pal is an amazing hidden gem in the Catalan Pyrenees. It is a very steep Hors Categorie climb which deserves much more fame than actually has. The overall numbers say it all. It is a very steep climb getting 2104 meters, with an overall elevation of 1267 meters in 19,3 km, which means an average gradient of 6,3%. Nevertheless, there are many passages at 11%, 12%, and 13%. No doubt Coll de Pal is a monster climb in the Pyrenees. See the elevation profile below. The starting point of the climb is a little village called Bagà in the Catalan Pyrenees. It is important to say that this is a no-exit climb, then you have to come back the same way you climbed to Bagà. This is the reason that it has to be stage ending when included in some event (professional race, granfondo, etc.). Coll de Pal has been included several times in major professional races, but it was a while ago. It was in Volta a Catalunya years 1978 and 1989, and also in the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme (not disputed since 2005) years 2002, 2003 and 2005 (winners Giuseppe Guerini, Dario Frigo, and a certain Alberto Contador). Also, there is a very nice granfondo which includes Coll de Pal in the route. This is "Els 4 cims", a demanding granfondo which includes 4 big climbs as Coll de la Creueta, Collada de Toses, Coll de la Merolla and finally Coll de Pal (as an optional climb, given that arriving to Bagà cyclists did already 143 km). Do not hesitate to climb up to Coll de Pal if you want a demanding cycling challenge!
Coll de Pal is an amazing hidden gem in the Catalan Pyrenees. It is a very steep Hors Categorie climb which deserves much more fame than actually has. The overall numbers say it all. It is a very steep climb getting 2104 meters, with an overall elevation of 1267 meters in 19,3 km, which means
Today we climbed one of the toughest roads in the region, Mont Caro, near Tarragona, southern Catalonia. 1441 mts height after 20 km. It will be stage ending in Volta a Catalunya pro race next March. Such a steep climb and such a nice day! Thanks to Sergi Ros de Mora, www.rosdemora.com amazing picture as usual!
Today we climbed one of the toughest roads in the region, Mont Caro, near Tarragona, southern Catalonia. 1441 mts height after 20 km. It will be stage ending in Volta a Catalunya pro race next March. Such a steep climb and such a nice day! Thanks to Sergi Ros de Mora, www.rosdemora.com amazing picture as
