On Your Bike

Casas de Benalí is a 16 kilometre climb in the south-west of the province of Valencia

The virtually traffic-free climb takes us through olive groves and pine forests us to an altitude of @750 m.a.s.l.

A gentle, quiet climb to nowhere particular through the Sierra de Enguera, the climb to Casas de Benalí offers a virtually car-free asphalted climb and an off-road descent to the village of Navarrés. 

Passing over the Serra Grossa range and linking the comarcas of Vall d'Albaida and la Costera, el Puerto del Portitxol is a relatively easy, regular climb that is popular with local cyclists and which can be slotted into numerous hilly routes in the lesser-known southwest corner of the province of Valencia/northwest corner of the province of Alicante.

For the 2019 edition of La Vuelta a España, the organizers of the Spanish national tour have pulled a real rabbit out of the hat in the form of the previously-unused climb of el Alto de Javalambre - or el Picón del Buitre, as it is more commonly known -, atop of which sits the spectacular Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory.

Located in the northernmost extreme of the province of Alicante and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Vall de Ebo (Vall d'Ebo in Valencian) is one of the Region's most popular climbs among amateur and professional cyclists alike. Indeed, due to its proximity to coastal resorts such as Denia, Calpe and Altea, so popular in the off-season among the world's leading pro cycling teams, it's not uncommon to come across many of the international peloton's most famous faces both climbing and descending its slopes, team cars dutifully bringing up the rear. And it's not hard to understand the climb's attraction for cyclists of all levels: with its 7.5 km length, multitude of hairpins and gradients between 5% and 13%, on a ranking of 1 to 10 it can comfortably be classified as a doozy.

El Puerto de Barx is a popular climb among Valencian cyclists, due to its proximity both to the La Safor coast and to the mountains of the Sierra Grossa range. At around 5 kilometres in length, it's not a long climb, and it's not too hard, either, enabling cyclists to take in the magnificent views towards the coast as they tackle its numerous hairpins.

A relatively unknown climb outside the circle of local cyclists, Coll de Fredes' 16 kilometres of forest and hairpins take us deep into one of the Valencian Community's most beautiful areas and provide spectacular views of a unique landscape. Of middling difficulty, it is perhaps more of a challenge due to its length and the heat in summer months than the gradient of the climb itself.

The Valencia Tourism Agency has published a guide for cycle tourism covering the whole of the Valencia Region. Written by José Manuel Almerich, the guide covers the Region's 3 provinces (Castellón, Valencia and Alicante) and provides extremely useful information about the Region, its rail trails, use of the regional train network when cycling, Valencia's network of MTB centres and information for long-distance cycling.

Containing a wealth of details about starting and finishing points, estimated journey times, distances, maps, links to detailed routes and tracks, and historical and cultural information, "Cycle Tourism Guide to the Region of Valencia" can be downloaded for free in PDF format and is available in Spanish, Valencian, French, English and German.

The guide can be downloaded via the following link: Cycle Tourism Guide to the Region of Valencia