Twelve more must-ride climbs for your bucket list
The feeling that you’ve struck a chord is sometimes unmistakable. The overwhelming response to last week’s “Twelve climbs to ride before you die” article gave us just such a feeling. So here’s another dozen to inspire you.
Britain’s highest road failed to make the cut in our first instalment, but there was no way Great Dunn Fell in the Pennines would be overlooked in part two. Fancy heading further afield? The Pyrenees is littered with iconic ascents, and the Col d’Aubisque, 1700m of suffering that inspired Octave Lapize, winner of the 1910 Tour de France, to brand the race organisers “assassins”, is among the hardest.
Harder still? Sir Bradley Wiggins sought out a volcano for altitude training in preparation for the 2012 Tour de France, and Mount Teide on Tenerife met his requirements. The road (not the mountain) ends at nearly 2,200m after a grueling 36.7km that unfolds at an average gradient of six per cent.
If you’re seeking to make the definitive statement as a climber, however, you’ll need to head to Hawaii. No bad thing, you might think, until arriving at the base of Muana Kea and setting off on a climb of nearly 70km that tops out at 4,217m. A Strava leaderboard of just 12 names tells its own story.
There are plenty more climbs in our second offering, from the Mortorilo Pass in the Italian Dolomites – a signature climb of the Giro – to Belgium’s Mur de Huy, much shorter at 1.2km, but with a peak gradient of 26 per cent, every bit as brutal (ask any of the professionals who contest La Fleche Wallonne each year).
