CyclistBig ride: Andorra, a small country with big hillsThis gradient is ridiculous. We can see the top from here but still dont know if well make it up the insanely steep ramp. Im in my lowest gear, out of the saddle, hauling on the bars and driving down on the pedals for all my life is worth. If the rear tyre slips now, Im done for. Eventually, after seconds that feel more like hours, we emerge from the apartment block carpark and our ride can begin.This is Andorra La Vella, a mini-metropolis in the mountains; a slice of Paris in the Pyrenees. The capital city of Andorra is densely developed hence the fiendishly tight underground parking with compact living spaces above fancy shops selling luxury goods. Big, expensive cars squeeze along its narrow roads. Its crowded and bustling, dripping with the kind of opulence youd associate more with Park Avenue in New York or Londons Mayfair.In all honesty, it isnt an especially nice place to ride a bike. Fortunately, its so small that you can escape it in a matter of minutes.Exactly 2km into our ride, my riding partner Andrew and I leave the city and begin the first of the three major climbs that await us on our route today. The Coll de la Comella begins sharply at 12% and the change in effort is as jarring as that in the scenery. The urban area ends abruptly. What was concrete is now greenery. Wherever it is that those impatient drivers have to be, apparently it isnt here.As we climb away from the noise of Andorra La Vella, the windproof outer layers in which we set off are first unzipped and then removed entirely as we start to warm up. It was a chilly 10C as we rolled out, the sun having a long morning commute into the blue sky over the elevated horizons that surround Andorra. The shade and empty road make it feel hours earlier than it really is.The 4km Coll de la Comella has featured in the Vuelta a Espaa three times and will do so again on Stage 4 this year, although the peloton will be heading in the opposite direction to us. Andorra packs in a number of monster climbs, but this isnt one of them. Rather its an amuse-bouche before the meatier ascents to come, and a way to avoid the busy road, at least for a while.The climbs 8% average is not steady but is made up of a mild midsection bookended by steeper sections, with the switchbacked final kilometre ramping up into double digits. The summit, at 1,347m, is modest by Andorran standards, so its only occasionally that we can peer through gaps in the trees and look back at the city below with its forest of construction cranes looming over the buildings like schoolteachers prowling an exam hall. Students of the ride, we keep our heads down and crack on, fully focused on the days challenges.If its not down, it must be upThe descent takes us back down to the busy CG-2 spine road, itself a climb because nowhere in Andorra is flat. We ride through a tunnel that feels like it should be closed to cyclists or at least have a dedicated bike lane, but it isnt and doesnt. The air quality has declined along with our altitude. The relatively heavy morning traffic is moving fast uphill, engines working hard, and the resulting emissions hang in the valley. Smell is added to the multi-sensory contrast between the climbs and the city.As we ride higher, the air improves and the sun finally makes its way above the peaks (Sorry Im late, traffic was terrible). Its now a beautiful autumn day and the best of the route is coming into sight ahead of us as the landscape gets increasingly mountainous. At the small town of Canillo we turn left onto the Coll dOrdino and begin our second ascent of the day.Half a dozen switchbacks at around 7% gradient lift us up the side of the mountain to an astonishing view back across everything weve just ridden, a landscape framed by towering peaks, somehow more impressive for not stretching off into haze, and for containing within it an entire country.The gradient is ideal hard but not too hard the road is wide and smooth, the sun is warm, the traffic is far away below us on the main road, and our legs still feel good, so every pedal revolution is pure joy.The Coll dOrdino is just shy of 9km in length and has twin peaks, with a short kilometre of descent at the 6.5km mark, followed by a top-up climb to the summit at 1,987m. The road approaches each peak from a different direction, giving two distinct views. Were not pushed for time today so we stop at both and drink them in before pouring our bikes into the flowing descent.Like the Coll de la Comella, the Coll dOrdino will also feature on Stage 4 of this years Vuelta, which is returning to Andorra for the fifth time since 2015 (by contrast, the Tour de France has only visited twice in the same period). And like the Col dAspin or Col du Soulor to the west, the Ordinos less-than-fearsome gradient and position between mightier mountains means that it is a climb that is usually visited on the way to somewhere else. Indeed, thats how were using it today, as a gateway to the town of Ordino that marks the start of our final and most serious climb, the giant that is Arcalis.Article continues belowReady to navigate Andorra La Vellas one-way streets.Chris StorrarAndorra in a snapshot: a fancy building, a Porsche, and two cyclists heading for the mountains.Chris StorrarThe quiet Coll de la Comella begins straight out of town.Chris StorrarThe Coll dOrdino climbs to nearly 2,000m and is where the big views begin.Chris StorrarAndorras very steep mountains mean many roads are cut deeply into their sides.Chris StorrarHydrating after the second peak of the Coll dOrdino at 1,987m.Chris StorrarMaking good time up the mild lower slopes of Arcalis.Chris StorrarThe Coll dOrdino climbs high but does so at kind gradients.Chris StorrarThe picturesque Coll dOrdino is tackled immediately on leaving Canillo.Chris StorrarThe long, snaking avalanche gallery on Arcalis.Chris StorrarWe promise we didnt do the graffiti ourselves just for the colour-coordination.Chris StorrarNearing the final set of switchbacks on Arcalis, the peaks no longer a craned neck above.Chris StorrarBeyond the base of Arcalis ski station, the road is joyfully car-free.Chris StorrarEvery passage of the Tour de France is commemorated in this mural on an Arcalis tunnel wall.Chris StorrarAt 2,229m, Arcalis is one of the highest points you can ride to by road in the Pyrenees.Chris StorrarThe fantastic espressos and cookies from the mountain-top cafe on Arcalis are a fitting reward for our efforts.Chris StorrarThe traffic-free switchbacks up to Arcalis, with the naked ski slopes visible in the forested mountainside behind.Chris StorrarChris Storrar Related Posts Classic climb: Coll de la Gallina, scene of cyclings newest, most exclusive race Big Ride: The Tour de France's greatest escape Big Ride: The Pyrenees-Orientales express The big oneHeading across the valley we converge with a pro rider from the Burgos-Burpellet-BH team who is out training. To be honest, Ive no idea who he is, though he looks like a sprinter, not a climber, given that his calves are bigger than my quads. He glances over his shoulder, clocks us, then winds up the pace. I resist the temptation to see if I can stay on his wheel.Andorra is home to a fair number of pro riders, which is as much to do with the low rate of tax as the mountainous training environment. One of the more interesting residents is Aleix Espargar, who was a MotoGP rider until retiring from the sport at the end of 2024, aged 35, and remarkably taking up a cycling career with Lidl-Trek. Admittedly, he was more ambassador than racer, but nonetheless he made his pro cycling debut days before his 36th birthday and went on to compete in events such as the Tour of Austria.He has since announced a second retirement from racing bicycles, admitting that it was harder than expected. Still, he was able to finish pro races at an age when most riders have stopped racing altogether, and that after having won at the top level of an entirely different sport, so that deserves kudos.After an 8km false flat up from Ordino, the village of El Serrat is where the climb to Arcalis really begins, first with switchbacks and then a long traverse across the mountain that includes one of the longest gallery tunnels Ive ever seen. While they exist to protect roads from avalanches in high-risk spots, and are constructed from great blocks of concrete, I happen to think they are rather beautiful, especially the way the light beams through the gaps to create barcodes of shadow across the road. Even the graffiti adds to the aesthetic.It was here in 2016 that Tom Dumoulin managed to drop the rest of the breakaway group during Stage 9 of the Tour de France, before soloing to his first Tour victory at the summit of Arcalis in a hailstorm of biblical proportions. Luckily for us, the scattering of white clouds presents no threat of similar downpours today.The next tunnel is a proper one, marked by a large mural in homage to the Tour de France. Its round in cross-section and arrow-straight, creating unusual acoustics that amplify any noises inside. As we approach the corner leading into the tunnel, we become convinced that a vehicle is hurtling towards us at an insane speed, probably one of Andorras many supercars, only for an old hatchback to appear, tootling along, driven by someone who looks like they can remember a time before there were any cars here at all, let alone Lamborghinis.Around 14km into the climb we arrive at the ski station of Arcalis, which marks the point beyond which cars are forbidden to pass. But theres still 6km of road to go to the summit, so the final section is completed in blissful, car-free serenity (to photograph the top part of the climb, Cyclists photographer has to buy a ticket for the gondola ski lift and shoot from above who needs a drone?).A perfect set of 11 switchbacks winches us up the steep face, before a final kilometre of false flat (that handily passes under the gondola twice) ushers us gently to our conclusion at the summit. Were at 2,229m, almost as high as is possible on tarmac in the Pyrenees, well above the Col du Tourmalet (2,115m) and Col de Portet (2,215m), the highest roads in the Hautes-Pyrnes region over to the west in France. In fact, if we wanted to go higher, the only road to surpass Arcalis in the Pyrenees is also in Andorra the Port dEnvalira at 2,408m on the eastern border.Despite the altitude, its nice and warm at the top and we dont even need gilets. Better still, this is the kind of summit that comes furnished with a cafe and sunloungers, so we toast our ride with espressos and giant cookies. They feel well earned. After all, weve ridden across an entire country.Just how small is Andorra?As it turns out, pretty smallWith a land area of 468km2, Andorra is about the same size as Greater Manchester, measuring 25km from east to west and 30km north to south. Its about a thousandth of the size of France and Spain, the neighbour countries it sits wedged between, and is officially one of the six microstates in Europe although it can at least boast that is the biggest microstate in Europe, the others being Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.Fun fact: the microstates compete in their own mini-Olympics, snappily titled the Games of the Small States of Europe. Along with the six microstates, other countries at the Games include Cyprus, Luxembourg, Iceland and Montenegro, and they compete in a total of 14 sports. Last year Andorra was the host country but failed to podium at any of the cycling events, which were dominated by Luxembourg. Andorra proved more successful in the swimming events, where it won three golds despite being a landlocked nation.How we did itTravelAndorra doesnt have an airport or rail link, so your best option is to fly to Toulouse in France, which is very well connected from the UK, and then rent a car for the three-hour drive. As such, its not a great venue for a short weekend trip, but if youve got a car and time to spare, you can also explore the Pyrenees to the north and Catalonia to the south.AccommodationCyclist rented an Airbnb in Andorra La Vella, but being both a summer and winter destination, Andorra has scores of hotels and holiday rentals with options for every taste and wallet. Go to visitandorra.com for more info.ThanksThanks to photographer Chris and ride partner Andrew for being great company as always. Thanks to FiftyOne Bikes for a big effort to get the new Sika to us in time; likewise to Josh at Chicken CycleKit for the Prologo and Zfal parts to finish off the build.The post Big ride: Andorra, a small country with big hills appeared first on Cyclist.