Erik Zabel's Mallorca - Mallorca: Touring the island with Erik Zabel
TOUR editor Andreas Kublik was given a very personal island tour.
A salty breeze blows in our noses and the road seems to lead straight across the glittering sea towards Cabrera, the deserted island off the coast. It's hard to believe: less than an hour ago, we got off the plane frustrated, late and in the drizzle. But our tour guide reassured us on the phone: "There's a rule that says you should stay on the south coast in bad weather." There were still deep black clouds hanging over Mallorca, and the roads were dripping with rainwater.
But the man knew what he was talking about: an hour later, our racing bikes were whizzing along the undulating road to Cap Blanc on dry tarmac. We didn't have to worry about the route at all. That's because we had found one of the most knowledgeable guides you can find on the island for a road bike tour: Erik Zabel. You can follow the ex-professional blindly between Palma in the south and Alcudia in the north, between the Tramuntana mountains in the west and the rocky coves of the calas in the east. When we asked him for a guided tour of the island, he didn't hesitate for a second: "I'm happy to do it: I'm a Mallorca fan." And he didn't forget to add: "And if we do it all on a bike, I'll be there anyway."
CYCLING HOLIDAY WITH SEA VIEW
The four-time winner of Milan-San Remo and six-time winner of the green jersey has found a second home on the Balearic island. He has already travelled to Tunisia and California, South Africa and Japan on his racing bike, as well as all the race tracks in Europe. But he has only ever been drawn back to Mallorca. In the beginning, he would always return for a short training camp, always at the Hotel San Diego on Playa de Palma. But at some point he had enough of hotel rooms, and for the past twelve years the Zabels have owned a neat detached house in the newly built district of Badia Gran, a few kilometres south of the major tourist stronghold. "When I'm on an island, I want to see and smell the sea," says the well-travelled ex-professional. The property with sea views over the bay of Palma is now the starting point for his daily cycle tours. He also managed 25,000 kilometres of training in the third year after his retirement from professional cycling - a good third of which, he estimates, was on Mallorca.
Mallorca is like a small continent - with flat and undulating routes as well as the long mountains in the Tramuntana. And you can reach the island from many places faster than Berlin," says Berlin-born Zabel. He enjoys his short trips to the island. Then he meets up with his training group, which includes Andreas Klier (Team Garmin-Barracuda), who lives just a few blocks away, and the Mallorcan Joan Horrach (Katjuscha) - plus a few local hobby rider friends; and today also Zabel's 18-year-old son Rick, who is currently aiming for a professional career with the Rabobank junior team. Today we are also allowed to join them - and although the active pros Klier and Horrach talk about a "regeneration day", I prefer to stay in the slipstream. It soon becomes clear that zero training kilometres so early in the year is definitely not enough to ride side-by-side across the island with the supposedly retired Zabel.
Undisturbed by car traffic, my island guides casually find hidden side roads where the almond trees are in bloom. "Cycling on Mallorca has become more relaxed since the motorway network was expanded," says Zabel. The main roads that leave the island's capital Palma de Mallorca in a radial pattern had to be avoided - many of them have now been converted into motorways or multi-lane motorways. But the passionate cyclist Zabel still shies away from their proximity. "I like the typical roads with stone walls at the edge, which have been developed into a good network of cycle paths," he explains as we cycle along one of these roads, the "Cami de Sa Torre", from his home on the south coast towards Llucmajor. Once we arrive in the small town, we head north-west at the end of the village towards an undulating and winding tarmac road that curves around the mountain massif of Puig de Randa. The following of amateur cyclists, who had secretly and whisperingly formed at the back wheel of the prominent cyclist during our conversation, pedalled straight on along the straight main road from Llucmajor to Algaida through the saddle between Es de Galdent and Puig de Randa. Not everyone has a scout at their side.
RESPECT PLEASE
Whenever car drivers drive past honking, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - cycling veteran Zabel doesn't bat an eyelid. In southern Europe, honking is not usually meant as a warning, as it is in Germany. Zabel is impressed by how calmly the Mallorcans come to terms with the traffic jams during the high season from March to April. "They plan an extra 20 minutes for the journey across the island," he estimates and doesn't understand why many guests on bikes clog up the roads as if there were no other road users. "If both sides show consideration, it works well," he says. And training buddy Joan Horrach adds: "The tourism authority should take much more care of the cycle tourists. The package tourists who come to the beach hotels in summer wear their all-inclusive wristbands - they don't bring any business to the people on the island."
As he speaks, the waitress at Café Sa Plaça on the small market square in Porreres brings the next round of "café con leche", the Spanish latte. Horrach remarks with the eye of a local connoisseur that the "bocadillo mixto" here is also a baguette topped with ham and cheese and not the typical "pan amb oli", a darker bread soaked in olive oil. Thus fortified, they set off on the "classics circuit", as the pros call a day of rides up the short, steep stretches of the island's monastery mountains. Here they test their form on the mountain before the classics. Over the centuries, the devout Mallorcans have built sanctuaries on the numerous mountain cones in the centre of the island. Today, the tarmac roads up to the Santuario de Cura on the Randa, to San Salvador, to Montisión or to the Ermita de Bonany are popular tests of strength for cyclists of all levels. And of course, Erik Zabel can compare each of the climbs to the climbs in his favourite race, Milan-San Remo. But his favourite mountain on the island lies in the foothills of the mighty Tramuntana mountains in the west of the island. When Andreas Klier asks his training partner whether he will be riding a mountain with him today, Zabel's answer is set in stone: "Only if we ride the Orient." A small mountain road that winds its way from Bunyola into a hidden high valley with a pleasant gradient - percentages that would be a real pain for anyone untrained in spring. But on our tour into the Tramuntana mountains, we leave this little mountain road to the right and head over the 496 metre high Coll de Sóller to the steep coast in the west of the island.
WINTER - AN EVENT OF THE CENTURY
"We had six weeks of sunshine and up to 18 degrees in December" - with these words, the Mallorca expert had lured us to the island early in the year. But as we approached the Tramuntana mountains and saw white peaks that were more inviting for skiing than cycling, the warm thoughts evaporated. The fact that the island was shivering with cold before we arrived is a rare stroke of bad luck. According to the island's newspapers, the last time it snowed this much was in 1956. Exceptions prove the rule. And so, shortly before the portal of the Gorg Blau tunnel (which is now to be fitted with cyclist-friendly lighting) at the foot of the island's highest mountain, Puig Major, at an altitude of around 800 metres, a ski tourer crosses the road with skis on his rucksack - it's a topsy-turvy world. But just how rare the snow is here is shown by the fact that the Mallorcans set off on the Tramuntana mountain road in long queues of cars these days to take a few souvenir photos against the white backdrop.
Even if you were deep down by the sea or in the warmer plain in the centre of the island, our knowledgeable guide doesn't forget to mention that once a year you can cycle up to the radio station at 1,445 metres above sea level via a concrete road. "Trencagarrons" is the name of this little-known endurance test.
ATTENTION, SHEEP!
Fortunately, we don't have to think about climbing to the summit - the concrete track to the summit is also closed on this day. Instead, we descend at breakneck speed, over short counter-climbs, past the turn-off to the scenic Sa Calobra coastal road, which we leave behind in view of the inhospitable conditions, to the monastery of Lluc. But in a cycling jersey, you feel a bit like a blasphemer in this holy place, so we postpone our visit to the rare black Madonna from the 13th century - preferring a stop at the "Coll de sa Bataia" bar for the next "Bocadillo mixto".
A few minutes later, the ex-professional takes off downhill through the hairpin bends, his relaxed gaze fixed on the expanse of the plain. Then he directs us through the streets of Inca, and at some point we take a sharp right onto the "Cami Vell de Muro", the now well-paved old cart track from Muro to Santa Maria. There, you feel less bothered by cars than by a flock of sheep on the way to the fence.
At the end of our tour of the island, as the sun disappears behind the Tramuntana mountain range, Erik Zabel hurries to say goodbye. How is he getting home? What a question! And he's already gone. Another hour of cycling home - the ex-professional can't resist. There really doesn't seem to be anything better than cycling on Mallorca ...
In the PDF download you can find out all about Erik Zabel's Mallorca and his favourite tours:
Tour 1: Warm-up lap
Kilometres 75, altitude metres approx. 350
We have chosen the south of the island as the starting point for our tours - Erik Zabel also lives here. Numerous hotels in Playa de Palma have catered to the needs of racing bike tourists. From here, our warm-up tour, which can be completed in just under three hours, takes us via Maioris, past the Cap Blanc lighthouse to the fishing village of Sa Rapita - not far from the sandy beach of Es Trenc. In Campos, we cycle through narrow alleyways (Calle Ponente) onto the side road "Cami d'Alcaria Rotja", turn right at the T-junction (follow the signs for Camino de Palmer/Talaiot) and finally return to S'Arenal along the motorway for a few kilometres.
Tour 2: Klosterberg circuit
Kilometres 115, altitude metres approx. 1.500
The pros like to ride this route in spring as a test of form before the classics - where they have to tackle the tough climbs in races such as the Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race: it leads from the starting point of Llucmajor (around 15 kilometres one-way from S'Arenal) through the largely flat centre of the island - but is garnished with numerous stretches up the "monastery mountains". Also ideal for groups: The fast climbers pick up the stragglers on the descent. The route leads up Montisión, San Salvador, Puig de Bonany and finally Puig de Randa via largely quiet side roads.
Tour 3: Tramuntana circuit
Kilometres 150, altitude metres approx. 2.000
This tour is a tough one. It leads from the south coast into the Tramuntana mountains. Once you've made your way over the Coll de Sóller (596 metres) to the west coast, you'll need plenty of lard to get home. We chose the route via the longest ascent on the island from Sóller towards Puig Major (highest point: around 850 metres) - and via the Coll de Sa Bataia, Inca and the Cami Vell de Muro and in a wide arc via side roads to the south coast. The really tough ones can add the picturesque Sa Calobra coastal road to the tour (plus 25 kilometres and 900 metres in altitude). The route can be shortened from Algaid or Llucmajor along the motorway.
Downloads:
Spain: Mallorca with Erik Zabel
