Politically and culturally, Cyprus is part of Europe, but geographically it is already part of Asia. It is only a hundred kilometres from the easternmost tip to the Syrian coast. Anyone training on a road bike in Cyprus - be careful: left-hand traffic! usually do so in the southern part, the Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus. But the republic alone has enough varied cycle routes for a week-long training trip. On the coast, especially between the main towns of Limassol and Larnaca, there are flat scooter routes where nothing distracts from the basic training, because the roads lead through an extremely barren landscape where only maquis and thorny, flat shrubs grow between white and grey rocks. In the hinterland, the routes become more challenging and the landscape greener. Narrow, low-traffic roads with a generally good surface, only a little rough and potholed in places, lead through vineyards on the way to the wooded Machairas Mountains; palm trees, cacti and evergreen carob trees line the roadside. In the villages, where you sometimes rumble over cobblestones, the bougainvillea grows up the walls in the most beautiful colours. It smells of herbs. The gradients are moderate, with ramps beyond the ten per cent mark rarely in the way. Take care on the descents: There are often stones on the road. The routes in the Troodos Mountains are more challenging, where the steep hairpin bends on the "Old Road" up to Troodos resemble a mini Stilfser Pass. If you want to climb even more, you can reach 1,950 metres on the highest mountain on the island, Olympos, the upper part of which is closed to cars and motorbikes - a must, even if this may be unreasonable at the start of the season ...
Cyprus is unbeatable in Europe when it comes to hours of sunshine. Road cyclists can also enjoy a dense road network in a secluded mountain landscape - and a great challenge: the ride up the 1,950 metre high Olympos mountain - Sven Bremer, TOUR travel author
Info about Cyprus
Start of the season: Winter months until April.
Temperatures: 19 degrees (March), 24 degrees (April) are the average maximum temperature on the coast, in the mountains it can be significantly colder; in addition, the sun shines ten to eleven hours a day.
Journey: Direct flights to Larnaca (e.g. with Lufthansa) from Frankfurt in around four hours (from 440 euros return), from Munich from 300 euros.
Topography: Flat, hilly, mountainous.
Locations: South coast from Paphos via Pissouri and Limassol to the west of Larnaca.
Weekly rate for hotel and guided tours: From 650 euros from ex-professional cyclist Thomas Wegmüller (www.takeit.ch). Another provider: www.zypernbike.com
Bike hire: Six days cost 165 euros at www.aspirecycling.de (carbon frame with Shimano's 105 groupset). Another hire company: www.radverleih-zypern.de
5 more destinations for your road bike training camp in spring
Plus points: That speaks in favour of a road bike training camp in Cyprus
- Climate: training possible even in winter
- everything is there: Flat stretches, hills and mountains
- Little traffic on narrow roads in the hinterland
Minus points: That speaks against it
- only air travel makes sense
- Left-hand traffic
- coastline between Lanarka and Limassol
- Very few organisers and road bike hire companies
