Alto de l'Angliru: Monster mountain awaits at the Vuelta 2025
Note: This article was first published on 04.09.2023 and was updated on 04.09.2025.
The Alto de l'Angliru in the northern Spanish region of Asturias - is it the Olympus of cycling, as you can read on signs along the route? Or rather hell on earth? One thing is clear, said Fernando Escartin, the route planner and technical director in the run-up to the 2023 Vuelta a España, the last time the mountain was on the Tour of Spain programme: "The Angliru is beautiful for the spectators, but incredibly hard for the riders." Some say that the pass at 1550 metres is the toughest climb in cycling.
La Cueña les Cabres: up to 24 per cent steep
Is that so? Hell is likely to begin for most riders a good three kilometres before the finish line of the 202.7-kilometre-long 13th stage: La Cueña les Cabres is the name of the notorious steep section, which will confront the riders with gradients of up to 24 per cent. "A wall," says the course director. Even the pros can only crawl over the tarmac at walking pace here, recalls former German Bora-Hansgrohe pro Andreas Schillinger: "The climb begins rather harmlessly in the valley in the village of La Vega, and it's only in the last six kilometres that things really get going." One ramp follows the next: first Les Cabanes with 22 per cent over 150 metres. Then Llagos with a gradient of almost 14.5 per cent, followed by Los Picones (20 per cent) and Cobayos (up to 21.5 per cent). And then, seamlessly transitioning, the highlight of the 12.4 kilometre climb: the dreaded Cueña les Cabres.
The view of the surrounding limestone mountains is magnificent. You just don't notice it any more. "You constantly have to make sure that the handlebars don't come up. And if you get out of the saddle, the rear wheel can slip off. The Angliru is often shrouded in fog and the tarmac is then a bit slippery," reports Schillinger.
A sea of people
The 500 metre long ramp is always flooded with people on race day. A sea that opens up in front of the racers at the last second. Schillinger climbed the Angliru for the first time at the 2017 Vuelta: "I had totally underestimated the mountain." He clearly knew that it would be difficult: "In terms of the average gradient, the Angliru is similar to the Mortirolo in Italy." After all, he had also climbed it: "The Angliru was the only time in my career that I almost crashed. I didn't know if I would be able to get the pedals round again. It was agony. I'll never forget those minutes."
The decisive difference between the two mountains: "The Mortirolo also has steep ramps, but not in one go," says Escartin, who has also tackled both climbs as a professional: "The Angliru doesn't give you a break: the last four or five kilometres are steep throughout." It is merciless. Escartín calls it "El Juez": the judge.
"If you're faster on foot, then it's not really cycling anymore," says former Asturian professional cyclist Jose Luis Rubiera, known as Chechu. He knows the climb inside out, having climbed it four times as Lance Armstrong's favourite helper at the Vuelta a España.
Angliru: Asphalted goat path
In 1999, the former goat path in the Sierra del Aramo, in the hinterland of Oviedo, was included in the Tour of Spain for the first time. The idea at the time was that the Angliru would become for the Vuelta what the Col du Tourmalet is for the Tour de France or the Mortirolo for the Giro d'Italia: Cycling myths. "It had been tarmaced a few years earlier," recalls Escartín: "Unfortunately, I crashed on El Cordal, the pass before it, at the premiere and had to finish the Vuelta. I rode up the Angliru two more times in the race, but I wasn't good," he says with a grin.
"People used to love gladiator fights. Nowadays, the audience wants to see how the riders writhe on the bike, how they suffer."
This year, the 785 metre high El Cordal is once again the aperitif on the way to Angliru: "Crashes often happen there," explains Escartín. "The descent is technical, but the riders are prepared to take more risks in order to position themselves well for the climb to Angliru."
Angliru: A legend like L'Alpe d'Huez or Monte Zoncolan?
The Angliru is not a legend like L'Alpe d'Huez or Monte Zoncolan, says Escartin. Not yet: "The legendary Tour or Giro passes are surrounded by stories of suffering and triumph. The Angliru lacks that." But it has all the ingredients to become one of cycling's mythical mountain finishes - after all, the more terrible a stage is, the more powerful the stories about it become. All it takes is a little time - and people to talk about it.
Escartín says that the Angliru doesn't really need to worry about having enough spectators: "People used to love the gladiator fights, the brawls. Nowadays, the public want to see the riders squirming on their bikes, suffering and having a hard time. People know that the Angliru is a symbolic, very tough pass. And that it will be an exciting race."
