Calpe
Calpe is where the professional peloton spends its winter, and one ride tells you why. Between the Mediterranean and the mountains of the Marina Alta sits some of the best riding in Europe. Enjoy the quiet roads, low December light, and more named climbs within an hour of the coast than almost anywhere on the continent. The long switchbacks of the Coll de Rates, the gorge road through the Vall d’Ebo, the high, silent miles over the Puerto de Tudons: these are the climbs the sport trains on, and for a week they’re yours.
There’s no better place to escape the harshness of winter back home. While your riding partners are staring at a trainer screen in the garage, you’ll be rolling out under Spanish sun — and sharing the roads with most of the pro peloton, who winter here for the same reasons you will. Don’t be surprised when they come past. They’ll be moving a bit faster.
This is not a race, and it isn’t a parade either. It’s a working week on the bike; riding with purpose, in good company, on roads that reward the effort. You’ll go home tired in the way that lasts.
Every route this week is modular: the support vehicle shadows every ride, so any day can become a shorter one, and no one will say a word.
The details are ours to carry: six nights in one seafront hotel in Calpe, breakfast and dinner included (lunch on you, mid-ride), airport transfers from Alicante, and routes we’ve ridden and refined ourselves — with a coffee stop or two built in along the way.
Come at the end of your season or the start of the next one. Either way, you’ll leave fitter than you arrived, and already planning the return.
The route
- Day1Arrivals · Calpe
Pickup from Alicante airport — arrive by 1pm. Settle in at Hotel Cap Negret, on the seafront. Welcome dinner on the terrace.
- Day2Cumbre del Sol & the coast110 km (68 mi) · 1,685 m (5,528 ft) climbing
A coastal day built around the Cumbre del Sol: over four kilometres of the week's steepest riding, sitting near ten percent with the Mediterranean dropping away below. Coffee at the 53-Eleven, then the long cliff road home. Not the longest day of the week, but the steepest.
Cumbre del Sol 4.4 km · 385 m · 8.8% avg · 10.5% max - Day3Confrides & the high country138 km (86 mi) · 2,581 m (8,468 ft) climbing
The week's biggest climbing day. A long, patient drag up the valley to Confrides — a climb that never quite lets go — then over the Coll de Tollos and the quiet roads home. Most of the week's vertical in a single day — ride the first half within yourself.
Confrides 6.5 km · 345 m · 5.3% avg · 7.5% max Coll de Tollos 9.5 km · 308 m · 3.2% avg · 4.5% max - Day4Coll de Rates & the Fustera109 km (68 mi) · 1,654 m (5,427 ft) climbing
Two of the area's signatures. The short, sharp Alto de la Fustera off the coast early, then the long haul up to the Coll de Rates above Tàrbena — the climb the peloton uses to open its legs — and down its famous switchbacks.
Alto de la Fustera 4.0 km · 185 m · 4.6% avg · 6.5% max Coll de Rates 9.2 km · 471 m · 5.1% avg · 7% max - Day5Vall d’Ebo129 km (80 mi) · 1,734 m (5,689 ft) climbing
Up through the Vall d’Ebo, the gorge road that gives the day its name, with a coffee stop at Blanca Bikes to break it up. A day through the quieter interior before the queen stage tomorrow.
Vall d’Ebo 6.0 km · 320 m · 5.3% avg · 7% max - Day6The Queen Stage176 km (109 mi) · 3,573 m (11,722 ft) climbing
The big one — the longest day of the week and the most climbing, taking in the week's climbs one last time. The Fageca, the Vall d’Ebo road, and the long grind up the Coll de Rates, with the Peñón waiting at the finish. The day you’ll bring up at dinner for years.
Coll de Rates 16.8 km · 564 m · 3.4% avg · 6% max Fageca 6.6 km · 264 m · 4.0% avg · 7% max Vall d’Ebo 4.4 km · 154 m · 3.5% avg · 4.5% max - Day7Departures
Transfers to Alicante. Coffee for the road.
What’s included
- Six nights at Hotel Cap Negret, on the Costa Blanca seafront
- Breakfast and dinner at the hotel, with wine (lunch is on you, mid-ride)
- Daily guided rides with a support vehicle on every ride
- Professional photography throughout the week, shot by the founder — the moments of suffering can’t go forgotten
- A welcome bag with a few useful items from our partners (to be announced soon)
- Pre-trip route briefing
- Airport transfers from Alicante
- Bike rental — a Scott Addict RC30 (Di2, power meter, carbon wheels), $285 for the week, arranged on request
- Travel insurance
- Flights
The week on the map
Every day’s route — six days out and back from one base.
Getting there
Fly into Alicante–Elche (Miguel Hernández) Airport to land before 2pm on your first day, in time for the scheduled group transfer at around 3pm. If you can’t find a flight that lands before 2pm, arrive the day before and stay at our suggested airport hotel overnight.
Book a return flight from Alicante after 9am on your final day. The transfer is timed to the earliest flight in the group, so please keep departures after 9am — it’s about an hour to the airport.
Any flight booked before 9am needs a private transfer, at an additional $100.
8–12 riders. 6 nights.
The journey is small on purpose. If it sounds right for you, send a note — we’ll write back with the route notes and any open dates.
Inquire about Calpe →