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Classic climb: Coll de Rates, a favourite training climb of the pros
Despite fierce competition for winter training camps and clement riding spots among pros and amateurs, the 200km of Spain’s Costa Blanca continues to reel riders in. A certain Dutchman named Mathieu is frequently seen rolling out of nearby Calpe of a spring morning. And while it might not be the hardest or longest climb in the region, the Coll de Rates – accessible, palatable, suitably challenging and beautiful – might lay claim to being the most popular.
Around 50km inland and to the north of its noisier neighbour Benidorm lies sleepy Parcent, a town with scarcely a thousand inhabitants that is still able to maintain a decent number of bike-centric businesses. The almost year-round stream of riders keen to punish themselves on the silken tarmac and recuperate on the beach keeps filling the coffers.
As you pull away from the town, the distinctive spire of the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception of Parcent rises above the rest of the low-lying pueblo. An arrow-straight road shoots you towards the square green shoulders that obscure the horizon.
Somewhere hidden within is the summit of the Coll de Rates. Season depending, vineyards and orchards stuffed full of grapes, oranges and lemons line the road, wafting zesty scents through the air. Come early in the year and pink-blossomed almond trees will be your consolation for lower temperatures.
Go pro
Something of a testing ground for pros and amateur climbers alike due to its shallow gradient and proximity to multiple cycling honey pots, the 6.5km Coll de Rates has a little something for everyone. The fastest pros tick this off in under 15 minutes at over 30kmh.
Unsurprisingly, this category two climb is a regular in the local Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana but has also passed muster for the Vuelta a España organisers in 2001, 2010 and 2016 when ‘The Rat’ featured on stages that sometimes broke 5,000m of climbing.
A brief dive into the 2016 road book records Nairo Quintana holding off Chris Froome at the end of a stage featuring the climb to extend his lead in a GC that he would eventually win while riding for Movistar.
Home comforts
Easing away from Parcent, Brits will see an odd reminder of home when passing the Victoria Restaurant, which is bedecked with the sign for the London Underground station of the same name. More rustic – and unsettling – is the sign for Restaurant Paraiso, which is accompanied by a vintage Citroën that appears to have been partially eaten by a giant cartoon boar. Whatever message the sign is attempting to convey, it signals the start of the climbing.
Lined by thick pine trees and broken rock, clearly blasted many moons ago to make way for the highway, the road is redolent of many a climb in Spain and the Canary Islands: accommodating gradients, pine tree scent in the air and only the whizz of a freewheel or a puffing overtaker to disturb the tranquillity.
Looking southeast through gaps in the trees, you can catch sight of the 783m Penya de Coll de Rates, a huge kneecap of grey rock that lurches out of the surrounding greenery. The 180° switchback after around 2km signals that close to a third of the climb is complete and sightlines begin to open up to the right. The soft orangy-white-hued palette of Parcent is visible in the distance, surrounded by pillowy green hills.
Hammer time
It bears remembering that current KoM holder Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates would have reached this point in less than four minutes, inhaling the climb at an average of 31.2kmh on his way to setting a new mark of 12min 21sec just before Christmas.
Hard-up Danish fishpacker Jonas Vingegaard took the record in 2018 while riding for the ColoQuick team, and the KoM for the climb has passed between the two teams several times in recent years: Vingegaard’s time of 13min 02sec was bettered by UAE’s Juan Ayuso (12:49) at the end of 2023, before Peter Øxenberg Hansen reclaimed the KoM for ColoQuick with a time of 12:38 in March, averaging 454 watts for the climb.
A look at the gradients explains why such average speeds and power outputs are possible. With barely a kilometre at over 6%, this is an ascent riders can slug in the chops or paw at – either approach will get you up the Rates eventually.
Up and away
The road now turns in the opposite direction to the Penya de Coll de Rates. For the next couple of kilometres, you are drawn further away from your goal, first westwards, then northwest, then south and then west again until a sweeping hairpin brings you back onto the southeasterly balcony road and the great knobble of rock that is your destination reappears ahead.
The looming stone bulkhead of the Penya de Coll de Rates gives you something to aim for and prompts you to assess how much is left in la cisterna. This is a popular road with cyclists so there will always be an element of competitiveness to spur you on. Just watch out for the ones who have a team car in tow.
The nature of this banister road gives the illusion that it simply vanishes into thin air and that if you keep riding you might just drop off the end and plummet into the valley below.
Fortunately the tarmac continues to unfurl ahead of you, and soon you pass – or even stop at – a rusty metal bench with the words ‘Coll de Rates’ carved out of it overlooking a particularly fine viewpoint. It provides a moment of relief for the hikers who at this point emerge from the steep path and are no doubt delighted to be greeted with somewhere to sit down.
Around the final corner is the time to truly dig in and empty the legs, knowing that in just 300m you’ll be within tapping distance of a cold beverage (opening times permitting). At the top, a clearing boasts one of those analogue Strava booths where it must have somehow been possible to record your time in days of yore.
Hop back on your bike and follow the dusty track around to the cafe’s entrance. As well as a helipad for those with pressing business elsewhere, 360° views are available, including of the as-yet hidden valley towards Tarbena and Cases de Bernia. If you fancy an additional 3km of climbing at more than 10%, cross the gravel car park and follow the path to the top for an even more stupendous view.
Warning: while you might not spot any pros on this bonus section, there are wild animals on the prowl. If Sean Kelly can end up crashing into a marauding boar, as he did in 2016 – or so the story goes – so can you.
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