PYRENEAN GEMS
With so many climbs to ride in the Pyrenees, CW spoke to Peter Cossins about his new book on cycle routes in the range
It has taken author and CW contributor Peter Cossins years of research to compile his latest catalogue of routes in one of cycling’s Meccas, the Pyrenees. Inspired by Alfred Wainwright’s legendary guides to the Lake District, he’s devised 112 routes to ride in the mountains. Eager for a trip ourselves when lockdown restrictions allow we wanted to know his favourites and what he learned from the process.
What makes the Pyrenees unique?
“Although I’m biased, I think they’re an ideal range to discover by bike. For a start there’s not a great deal of traffic, especially if you go out between 12 and 2pm and the French are all having lunch. There are huge differences in the terrain too. To the east, close to the Mediterranean, it’s drier, can be very windy, and the land is parched in the summer. As you move further west, the countryside gradually gets lusher, especially on the French side of the chain.”
What did you discover about the mountains that you didn’t know before in the course of researching the book?
“Researching the book really confirmed the impression that I’d built up over 30 years of riding, travelling and working in these mountains that there’s such a variety here. I’ve become more aware of the elements, of the fact that you need to be prepared for the unexpected, for the weather to change suddenly.
“Also, because I’ve been here so often in high summer working on the Tour de France, I always assumed this is the best time to come here, but I’ve realised the autumn is far better. The heat isn’t as intense, there’s less chance of rain and, of course, there are fewer people on the roads. I was speaking to Trek-segafredo’s Kenny Elissonde recently, and he says he does a lot of his mountain training camps in the Pyrenees because it’s so quiet.”
What climbs are the hidden gems?
“There are dozens. I like the French side of the Col d’ispéguy, a little climb that’s very grand and has a great cafe at the top where you can get a creamy café con
leche; in the province of Girona, the Coll de la Creueta from the south is a majestic ride; the spectacular ridge road between the Col Ibarduria and the Col Bagargui in the French Basque Country; the Coll de Fumanya in Barcelona province if you like the steep and spectacular; for something epic, the roads up to lakes Aumar and Cap de Long further up the valley from Saint Lary Soulan are hard to beat, both climbing to well over 2,000 metres but through marvellous landscapes.”
How many of these routes did you ride and what were your best and worst experiences riding them?
“I’ve ridden a good deal of them over the last three decades and driven a lot too. One of my goals is to ride up every climb in the book, bagging them a little like walkers do with the Munros in Scotland or the fells in the Lake District. Best experiences? I honestly can’t pick one although I still clearly remember that first climb of the Larrau in 1990, seeing eagles or vultures circling hundreds of metres above me and thinking I’d never get that high, then, half an hour later, I was looking down on them. The worst? Probably the first time I rode up the Mur de Péguère on a sportive that followed the 2017 Tour stage route from Saint Girons to Foix. I’d ridden too hard to reach the foot of that savagely steep 3.5km climb, managed about 500m of it, then blew. As I began to walk, it started to rain torrentially and I was frozen. From the summit it’s 30-odd kilometres down into Foix and my fingers could barely grip the bars let alone operate the brakes. It’s an amazing little road, though – when you’ve got the legs to deal with the 12 per cent average gradient.”
There are a lot of legendary climbs in the Pyrenees but if we were coming to ride what’s the one climb we shouldn’t miss?
“Everyone should ride the Tourmalet and Aubisque, but I prefer the Port de Pailhères from the eastern side. It begins near a Cathar castle, climbs past the tiny ski resort of Mijanes and into a stunning hairpin section high up that presents breathtaking views, which get better the closer you get to the 2,001-metre summit. Last time I rode up, Tom Pidcock went past me on a training ride. I was too far into the red to do anything more than grunt as he swept by.”
“Tom Pidcock swept past me on a training ride”
Were there any areas of the mountains that surprised you?
“I didn’t know the Spanish side as well as the French, so there were lots of places there that were a real discovery, such as the Cadì massif in the province of Barcelona, where the mountain scenery is astounding. I love a beech forest too – they’re almost luminous green in the spring and summer, and all shades of yellow, red and gold in the autumn - and the Irati Forest at the western end of the Pyrenees is the second largest in Europe after the Black Forest.”