Sa Calobra cycling climb map

by Sidney van den Boogaard

You always ride Sa Calobra downhill first: the road ends at a tiny cove, so every bend you descend must be climbed again. Designed by engineer Antonio Parietti, it opened in 1933, largely built by hand. For about ten kilometres at around seven percent the tarmac snakes up between limestone walls, steady enough to find a rhythm – pro teams use it as a winter benchmark. The highlight is the Nus de sa Corbata, the 'tie knot', where the road loops through 270 degrees and passes under itself. The top, the Coll dels Reis, squeezes between two rock walls. For everyone who left their heart on Mallorca.

This work is part of the Legendary Climbs collection: the most famous climbs in road cycling, from the Alps and the Pyrenees to the short, steep hills of Flanders and Limburg. Each climb is drawn from the real road, with the elevation profile coloured per kilometre and, along the bottom, the length, elevation gain, average and maximum gradient and the summit.

The road is drawn from OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors) and the profile from Copernicus elevation data (EU-DEM). A great gift for any cyclist, to hang next to the bike or as a goal for next season.