City Of Stars
Cyclist discovers the quiet roads and perfect climbs that make the Spanish city of Girona such a haven for pro riders
Cyclist heads to Spain to sample the trafficfree roads and testing climbs that make Girona the perfect training ground for pro riders
In the early-morning light, a group of young women is dancing methodically around in a circle on some nearby stone steps and humming what sounds like a high-pitched sea shanty. I shoot a confused look towards my host, Louise. ‘It’s the Game Of Thrones theme,’ she says with a derisive smile. ‘It’s always Game Of Thrones.’ Many of the HBO series’ scenes were shot in the Old Town of Girona, and a fair number of the tourists who visit the city are here to see the filming locations. I let out a snort of laughter as we clip in for the start of our ride, but then I wonder if when they gazed down at us, clad in Lycra, they might be thinking the same thing themselves: ‘Cyclists. It’s always cyclists in Girona.’ Look around the cafes in central Girona and you’ll notice an unusually high proportion of muscular, shaved legs, suspicious tanlines and a fair few hipster tattoos. Look a little harder and you might recognise a Procontinental rider here or a Grand Tour podium finisher there. Girona’s current and past residents include Mark Cavendish, David Millar, Steven Cummings, Tao Geoghegan-hart, Robert Gesink, the Yates brothers and one Lance Armstrong.
This city in northeast Spain has become one of the preferred hideaways of the pro cyclist, and I’m hoping today’s ride will show me why.
Cycling Mecca
With me is Thérèse, my partner both on the bike and in life in general. For today’s ride we’ve enlisted the help of Louise, who runs tour company Eatsleepcycle here in Girona, although she originally hails from the UK. So far she has downplayed her riding form, insisting she’s some way off peak fitness, but as an ex-racer who spends much of her time riding around the local mountains, I have the suspicion that a little modesty may be at work.
There’s an abundance of routes we could take out of Girona. There’s the 750m climb of Rocacorba, a favourite for most pros in the area and with a Strava leaderboard that sees top professionals bumped to the third or fourth page. Also within 50km of Girona is the Mare de Déu del Mont, which offers 18km at a 5.4% incline, and if you can keep
A fair number of the tourists who visit the city are here to see the Game Of Thrones
filming locations
It Pacific feels as - if we could be on the tip of Cape Horn overlooking the only with a few more pro cyclists and beach resortts
up with Simon Yates it will take you a few seconds shy of 50 minutes to get to the top. But neither of those climbs is on today’s itinerary.
Instead we have set our sights on the Costa Brava. It’s a fairly daunting 156km loop that heads up the coast before looping back inland, with enough rolling hills to accumulate more than 2,700m of climbing in total. While I’d normally breathe a sigh of relief at any ride with less than 3,000m of elevation, Louise warns me that the lumps on the coast are steeper than most people realise, and the ride may feel more like a day in the Alps than we expect.
Rolling through Girona’s Old Town, the early-morning sun casts sharp orange patterns across the stone buildings. Wherever we look, other cyclists are also setting off on their rides. It feels as though we’ve stumbled into a cyclingthemed model town.
After negotiating Girona’s cobbled streets we’re out of the city and onto the bigger roads. At this time of day they’re eerily quiet, but even at busier times a combination of cycling-friendly road design and courteous driving makes riding here far more pleasant compared to the threatening city roads back home.
An easy warm-up of 25km brings us to the town of Llagostera. With the sun still low in the sky there’s a pleasant morning haze over the surrounding fields, and Louise takes the opportunity to tell us a little about how she found her way from dreary London to the sunny climes of Spain. ‘My partner and I bought seven bikes on a credit card with our friend Brian, and we just started renting them out,’ she says. Today the business has grown to 200 bikes and 14 staff. It’s the sort of escapist dream that so many of my London friends harbour, and it feels almost surreal to meet someone who has made it a reality.
Once through Llagostera, the roads get narrower and hillier. We begin to ride up the first real incline of the day – the Alti de Sant Grau. It’s 8.6km at a modest 5%, but the effort is enough to see our conversation taper down from a vibrant chatter to the bare essentials.
The climb snakes up a forested hillside, and while it’s never quite steep enough to break our consistent cadence I do find myself wishing for an extra gear several times,