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  • Cycling Weekly

    THE HIDDEN GEM OF THE PYRENEES

    Sep 08, 2022 6 minutes

    Tucked away in the very heart of the Pyrenees, concealed by the highest peaks and undisturbed by its louder neighbours, the Val d’Aran is the best-kept secret of one of cycling’s greatest mountain ranges.

    Largely unfrequented and unspoiled, the locals even speak a language, aranés, that only 7,000 people can understand, but this outpost at the very north of Spain is replete with great climbs to rival any of those in France’s Hautes-Pyrénées or nearby Andorra.

    Meaning ‘valley of valleys’ in aranés, the self-governed mountain hideaway has proudly sat alone throughout its intriguing history, a tunnel built in 1948 finally offering isolated inhabitants a route to other parts of Catalonia in the winter months, with the only other access road to the rest of Spain blocked by snow.

    The Tour de France has passed through on multiple occasions, most recently hosting a stage start in 2016, while the Volta a Catalunya and Vuelta a España are

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