Cap Formentor
Cap de Formentor is the northernmost point of Mallorca, the largest of Spain's Balearic Islands, a narrow peninsula where the Serra de Tramuntana runs out into the sea, its cliffs dropping about 300 metres to the water and its highest point, the Fumat, reaching 384 metres; locals call it the meeting point of the winds. Before the road was built in the 1920s by the engineer Antonio Parietti, the lighthouse at the tip, first lit in 1863 and standing about 210 metres above the sea, could be reached only by boat or a long mule track. In 1929 the Argentine Adan Diehl opened the Hotel Formentor on the beach facing the Bay of Pollença, whose guests have included Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin and Audrey Hepburn; from 1961 it hosted the Formentor literary prizes, whose winners included Jorge Luis Borges and Samuel Beckett.
This ride follows the whole road, the Ma-2210, from the seafront at Port de Pollença to the lighthouse. It opens with the main climb of the day, about 3.4 km up to the Mirador es Colomer viewpoint, then drops to near sea level at the turn for Formentor beach, below the hotel. From there the road rolls along the peninsula and reaches its high point near the lit, 300-metre tunnel through the Fumat, before the final run to the lighthouse. In summer, private cars are banned from the stretch between the beach and the lighthouse, but cyclists can ride the whole road, which has made it one of the most popular rides on the island.
Region: Illes Balears
City: Pollença
Distance: 17.7 km
Elevation Gain: 467 m
Elevation Loss: 347 m
Difficulty: 302 (Easy)
FIETS Index: 0.33 FIETS
Avg Grade: 1.52 %
Max cat climb: 3
Min elevation: 10 m
Max elevation: 224 m
Ride Category: Hilly