Pascual raises his hands imploringly and shakes his bald head. He had expected the question. "Too small? No, definitely not," replies the 61-year-old. "Ibiza is not too small for road cycling. You can find many beautiful routes on the island and there is always variety." His friends Vicente and Toni remain silent, but nod in agreement. A racing cyclist on Ibiza must be built like Pascual. Two matchstick-thin legs protrude from his three-quarter-length trouser legs - nothing but tendons and muscle cords. Many a Spanish professional cyclist is almost chubby compared to the old champion from the cycling club in Santa Eulalia. "You can ride in the mountains here, you can ride flat ...", claims Pascual, gesticulating and drawing the profile of his home island in the air. Now Toni and Vicente look a little embarrassed. No nod this time, Vicente just raises an eyebrow barely noticeably. That's enough, Pascual has to laugh. "Well," he corrects, "it's hardly ever flat, and there aren't any real mountains either."
The route profiles on Ibiza can probably best be compared to an Ardennes classic. There are constant ups and downs, never particularly long, but all the steeper for it. Ramps of 13, 14, 15 per cent get in the way of racing cyclists every now and then, especially near the coast. "Rompe piernas" is what the Spaniards call these short steep sections - which means something like "they destroy your legs".
You can find the entire article as a PDF download below.
You can download these tours as GPS data below:
- TOUR 1: To Ibiza's landmarks
71 kilometres, 1,1000 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of 15 per cent
- TOUR 2: Farmland and building sins
76 kilometres, 1,000 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of 13 per cent
- TOUR 3: Cala Climbing
81 kilometres, 1,250 metres in altitude, maximum gradient of 14 per cent
GPS DATA: TOUR offers the tour data for free download. You can download the tracks in GPX format directly onto a GPS device or view them on your computer in Google Earth or Google Maps.
Text Sven Bremer, Photos Jörg Wenzel
Downloads:
GPS data: Spain: Ibiza
PDF: Spain: Ibiza
