Classic climbs coll de rates

The Maresme region – a kaleidoscope of seductive beaches, twisting coastal roads, emerald-green forests and steep hills – has served as an adventure playground for Barcelona-based cyclists for years.

Take Alpe d’Huez, add three hairpins and two per cent to the gradient, and what you’ve got is the one of the toughest but least known climbs in Spain. Mont Caro, in the Terres de L’Ebre region of Cata

Length: 21.3km Elevation gain: 1,142m Average gradient: 5% Maximum gradient: 12% The Colle del Nivolet in north-west Italy is the most beautiful mountain road in the world. Fact. But that’s not the on

In the Catalan Pyrenees, everything is bigger. This larger-than-life landscape, 200km north of the soft sands of the Mediterranean coast, is where Catalonia’s colossal peaks mark the region’s borders

The Costa Brava may be renowned as a cycling destination, favoured by the pros and home to iconic climbs such as the Rocacorba and the stunning volcanic landscapes of Garrotxa. But whisper it quietly:

In 2014 a group of Catalan cyclists reflected on how the spirit and stoicism of road cyclists mirrored the gritty qualities of the historic mining communities in the mountainous, mine-pocked region of