Puerto de San Glorio descent
Distance: 29.99 km
Elevation Gain: 80 m
Elevation Loss: 553 m
Difficulty:
111 (Easy)
FIETS Index: 0.88 FIETS
Avg Grade: -1.82 %
Max cat climb: 5
Min elevation: 1116 m
Max elevation: 1601 m
Ride Category:
Flat
The Puerto de San Glorio, 1,609 m, carries the N-621 between Potes in Cantabria and Boca de Huérgano in León, Spain, and its summit is the border between the two provinces. It is the second-highest paved pass in the Cantabrian Mountains, and its León side is shorter and gentler than the long climb from Potes. The Vuelta a España crossed it from Potes in 2014 and again in 2022.
This ride descends the León side, the way the Vuelta came down in 2022. Sam Bennett was about half a minute behind the bunch at the summit that day, but he got back on during this descent; the breakaway held on, and Jesús Herrada won in Cistierna. The road drops through the villages of Tierra de la Reina, from Llanaves to Boca de Huérgano, then crosses the Riaño reservoir on the Puente de Hormas. When the reservoir was filled in 1987, a new Riaño was built above the water. The ride finishes just north of the new town.
