Let’s be clear about this. Formentor is not a mountain pass. It doesn’t traverse from one valley to the next. However, it is part of the mountains, in fact it could be argued that it’s the pinnacle of the Tramuntana mountains. It’s where Mallorca’s rocky backbone drops into the sea and it’s a mandatory inclusion in any cycling guide to Mallorca for a reason.
MALLORCA COLLS & CLIMBS : CAP DE FORMENTOR
Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s an easy and flat ride along a seaside peninsula. Once you get out of Pollença and onto the headland, the 15km of the Formentor road introduces itself with a 3km climb to the Colomer viewpoint (the KOM is held by a certain M. Contador). If you are on a relaxed day, take the time to walk the shallow steps to see the cliffs trace their way towards the lighthouse, it’s spectacular.
The lighthouse has been there since the 1890s and was originally served by only a mule track. Ironically in this day and age, gravel riders would get excited about riding to the end of the Island on gravel. However, such is the beauty of the surfaced road that even the hardiest of off-road cyclists would be willing to exchange their 650bs for their 700c carbon wheels. And so they should : it took more than 200 people six years to finish the road. Enough time for the local Bishop to order an altar to be built so the workers could still attend mass.
The famous engineer Paretti’s second-best road (Sa Calobra being the first, of course) allowed for the building of the peninsula’s only hotel by Adam Diehl – much like our own Cap Ferrat it took an entrepreneur to take on the rugged landscape of the headland. Diehl was a Paris-resident and advertised his hotel in lights on the Eifel Tower. The strategy succeeded and attracted the likes of Charlie Chaplin and F Scott Fitzgerald – both, incidentally, also visitors to Cap Ferrat. Mediterranean peninsulas have a certain appeal.
At the lighthouse, surrounded by the ocean on the very tip of the landmass, you might experience what the locals refer to as ‘the meeting of the four winds’. It comes from every direction – the Iberian Peninsula, the Alps, North Africa and the Atlantic. Just like the cyclists do, and for good reason.
Yes, the cap has beautiful walking trails, some impressive water-side architecture and dreamy secluded beaches, which you should visit if you have time. But look back from the lighthouse as a cyclist and see a prime example of why you came to the Island : the roads.
THE RIDE : To The Lighthouse