Port de Pollença — Sa Batalla and Sa Calobra queen stage

This is the day every Mallorca week is built around. Sa Batalla and Sa Calobra in a single ride from Port de Pollença — 105 kilometres, 2,108 metres of climbing, and the two most-photographed roads in European cycling on the same day. You don't ride this loop because it's the most efficient route to those climbs. You ride it because doing them back-to-back, from a Pollença base, is the queen stage that defines the Mallorca cycling trip.

The morning starts in Port de Pollença with the kind of nerves that come with knowing the day. Wheels out around 9, normal breakfast, two bottles, gels and bars in the back pockets. The early start matters here for two reasons: heat later in the day if you're riding in spring or autumn, and traffic on Sa Calobra. The longer you wait, the more cars and rental scooters between you and a clean descent.

The first 12 kilometres roll south on the same quiet inland roads you might take on a flat day, until you reach Caimari and the start of Sa Batalla. The climb is 7.8 kilometres and 386 metres at a steady 5–6% gradient. Olive groves either side of the road for the first kilometre, then the road begins to switchback. There's a moment early on where the serpentines stack tightly enough that you can look down and see other cyclists below you, like terraces. The first four kilometres are honest, regular climbing. Then a short flat stretch lets you catch your breath. Around 5.5 km you get a longer flat section — useful if you've been pushing too hard. From kilometre 6 it pitches up again to the Repsol station that marks the top of the segment. Bring some change. The petrol station and the restaurant next to it are where most groups stop to fill bottles and regroup.

From Repsol the route climbs another 100 metres or so before dropping toward the famous bridge — a road junction marked by a small kiosk-café that's a useful refill point both before and after Sa Calobra. At the junction, you turn off toward Coll dels Reis. Don't underestimate this one: 2.66 kilometres at 5.9% averaging is its own climb, 160 metres of elevation, and it sits between you and the Sa Calobra descent. From the top of Coll dels Reis you roll down to the Sa Calobra cove on the same road you'll come back up.

Sa Calobra is the climb that needs no introduction. 9.41 kilometres, 660 metres of climbing at 7.2% average, 26 hairpin bends. Nus de sa Corbata — the famous 270-degree turn where the road loops over itself — sits near the end of the climb, with only 300–400 metres remaining to the top once you've passed it. The descent down is technically demanding, particularly in the upper half, where blind hairpins meet narrow road. Be cautious: it's not unusual for buses and oncoming traffic to bring everything to a complete stop around a corner you can't see through. Plan for it.

At the bottom there's a restaurant and a café that serve hot food. Some groups linger; others, like me, fill bottles and head back up. Water needs vary wildly with temperature — bring more than you think on a warm day.

The climb back up rewards a controlled start. The first section runs through vegetation and lower forest with some shelter from wind. You'll pass the famous narrow section between two rock walls. Then the landscape opens up and the wind picks up across the exposed middle stretch — and from here you can look up and see the serpentines you're about to ride, stacked above you on the cliff face. Find your rhythm on watts and pulse. The climb gives you back what you spend on it if you stay patient through the middle.

Once you've come back down from Coll dels Reis to the bridge junction, the cafe fills up with cyclists. Coffee, Coke, ice cream when the weather earns it. 15 to 30 minutes of pause depending on the day.

The route home is a quieter pleasure. Back toward Repsol with 170 metres of climbing left in the legs, then a left turn just before the petrol station onto Coll de Femenia. From there it's a long, descending road back to Port de Pollença — sweeping bends, good asphalt, the bay coming into view through the trees. The ride finishes naturally at Stay Restaurant or one of the others by the water in Port de Pollença, with a cold drink and the satisfaction of having done the day.

This is the queen stage. Ride it once, properly, and you understand why people come back to Mallorca year after year.