Thanks to its warm climate, laidback vibe and easy access to training roads, Girona in northeast Spain has become a magnet for pro cyclists. You can’t chuck a bread roll without hitting an Esteban Chaves, a Kasia Niewiadoma or a George Bennett.
The city was ‘discovered’ in the mid-1990s by American riders crossing the Atlantic to join the European pro circuit, and the trickle of interest became a flood when Lance Armstrong’s US Postal was the first team to establish a European base there in 1997. From the mid-2000s, for any rider to show they had what it took to make it in cycling, first they had to prove themselves on the local test-piece: Rocacorba.
Don’t let your
