Spain · Mediterranean
Sa Calobra
The famous "tie knot" road in Mallorca, where the road loops under itself. A pilgrimage for every serious road cyclist.
- Length
- 9.4 km
- Avg gradient
- 7.1%
- Max gradient
- 12%
- Elevation gain
- 682 m
- Summit
- 682 m
- Hairpins
- 14
Versants
- From Port de sa Calobra — 9.4 km at 7.1% (max 12%)
History
The road down to Sa Calobra wasn't built for cyclists, or even really for cars — it was built in 1932 by the Italian engineer Antonio Paretti to connect an isolated fishing village on Mallorca's northwest coast to the rest of the island for the first time. Paretti didn't believe in blasting tunnels through the limestone; instead the road follows the mountain's contours as closely as it can, which is why it folds back on itself in roughly 26 hairpins on the way down to sea level — including a 270-degree spiral bridge, nicknamed the tie-knot, where the road loops fully under itself to lose height without a switchback.
That makes Sa Calobra one of the only major cycling climbs in Europe you descend before you climb — most riders drive or ride to the top of the Coll dels Reis first, then treat the run down to the cove and back up as the actual test.
Its modern cycling reputation owes a lot to Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins, who used Sa Calobra as a training climb during the build-up to his 2012 Tour de France win — turning a quiet engineering curiosity into one of the most-ridden roads on the island.