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Race the Route: Riding the Col du Tourmalet Like the 2026 Tour
The 2026 Tour's first hors catégorie climb is a bucket-list ascent for any cyclist. Here's how to ride the Col du Tourmalet yourself — the numbers, the two approaches, and why you should do it with a local.
By ZealZag TeamTour de France 2026: The Tourmalet Awaits as Træen Defends Yellow Into the Pyrenees
A surprise leader in yellow, the favourites lying in wait, and the fabled Col du Tourmalet looming as the 2026 Tour's first hors catégorie test — the race for the mountains starts now.
By ZealZag TeamVal d'Aran VDA 163K 2026: Europe's Biggest Mountain Ultra Is Running Now
The HOKA Val d'Aran by UTMB's flagship 163K race — Europe's biggest trail ultra and a direct qualifier to UTMB Mont-Blanc 2027 — departed Vielha at dawn this morning with 7,500 runners from 91 countries.
By ZealZag TeamHow to Watch the Tour de France 2026 in Person: Barcelona to Alpe d'Huez
A practical guide for destination-athletes joining the Tour de France roadside — the stages worth travelling for, where to stand on Alpe d'Huez and in the Pyrenees, how to time a trip around the race's three-week geography, and what the experience actually delivers.
By ZealZag TeamVal d'Aran: Trail Running the Pyrenees' Atlantic Outlier
The Val d'Aran drains north toward France, speaks Occitan, and holds some of the most remote high-mountain terrain in the Pyrenees — a UTMB World Series European Major in a valley that most trail runners only hear about when the race calendar lands in their inbox.
By ZealZag TeamThe Appetiser Runs First: Val d'Aran's PDA 55K Today, UTMB European Major VDA 163K Tomorrow
The HOKA Val d'Aran by UTMB's 2026 edition is mid-race: the PDA 55K runs today through the Colomèrs glacial cirque from Salardú, while tomorrow the VDA 163K — the UTMB World Series European Major and a direct qualifier to UTMB Mont-Blanc 2027 — fires from Vielha at dawn.
By ZealZag TeamClimbing the Tourmalet: Cycling the French Pyrenees from Luz-Saint-Sauveur to Gavarnie-Gèdre
Tour de France Stage 6 crosses the Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet before a first-ever finish at Gavarnie-Gèdre on July 9. This is a practical guide to riding these roads yourself — what the climbs are, where to base, when to go.
By ZealZag TeamCycling the Aragonese Pyrenees: Jaca, Somport, and the Quiet Side of the Mountains
The Aragonese Pyrenees run between the Basque cycling heartland to the west and the Catalan mountains to the east — and carry none of their traffic. A practical guide to cycling the Puerto de Somport, Portalet, and the Hecho and Ansó valleys from Sabiñánigo and Jaca.
By ZealZag TeamSpanish Road Nationals TT: Racing for the Stripes in the Pyrenees Foothills
The Spanish road cycling national championships open their time trial day in Sabiñánigo — where the Hoya de Huesca meets the Aragonese Pyrenees, and riders compete for the red-and-yellow national jersey worn for a full season on the WorldTour.
By ZealZag Team
The Price of Wonder
How 170,000 Kilometers on Unconventional Roads Taught Stefano Scapitta What It Means to Have Everything While Possessing Nothing
By ZealZag TeamCycling Catalonia: The Coast, the Pyrenees, and the Riding Around the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ
Catalonia hosts the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ on July 4 — the first time the race has opened on Catalan soil. A guide to the cycling terrain the opening three stages will cross, the Girona pro-cyclist hub that anchors the broader Catalan cycling scene, and where to ride if you're visiting the region across the Tour window.
By ZealZag TeamThree Weeks to Barcelona: Tour de France 2026 Sets a Route Built for Climbers
The 2026 Tour de France rolls out from Barcelona on July 4 for the first Grand Départ on Catalan soil in race history — a 3,333-kilometre route across 23 days with 54,450 metres of elevation, 8 mountain stages, 5 mountain finishes, and Alpe d'Huez on two consecutive days. The opening team time trial is the first since 1971.
By ZealZag TeamTrail 100 Andorra UTMB: The Ultra 105K Steps Into the High Pyrenees
The Ultra 105K — the flagship distance of the Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB — started today from Ordino with 105 kilometres and 6,900 metres of elevation ahead of each athlete. Rod Farvard, Thibaut Marguet, and Martina Valmassoi lead the seedings into Andorra's most demanding single-effort mountain race.
By ZealZag TeamTrail 100 Andorra by UTMB: The Complete Running Guide to the Pyrenean Principality
How to run the Andorra UTMB — four distances, three major summits, and 2,942 metres of altitude in the world's highest-average-elevation principality. A guide to the courses, the logistics, and why Andorra is one of the UTMB World Series' most underrated venues.
By ZealZag TeamTrail 100 Andorra UTMB 2026: Trail 80K Climbs Andorra's Highest Peaks
The Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB Trail 80K launched from Ordino at dawn on June 12 — 79km and 3,900m of Pyrenean climbing across the principality's three major summits, with 3,800 athletes competing across four distances this weekend.
By ZealZag Team
Race the Route: Running Trail 100 Andorra's 105K Pyrenean Circuit
Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB sends 105K runners through every parish of a micro-nation built from mountains. A practical guide to the Ultra 105K course, logistics, gear, and what makes the Andorran Pyrenees worth the journey.
By ZealZag Team
Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB 2026: 6,900m Into the Pyrenean Roof
Four days before the Ultra 105K gun goes off at Ordino, Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB is already generating the quiet intensity of a race that knows exactly what it is: 105 kilometres and 6,900 metres through the highest country in the Pyrenees.
By ZealZag Team
Pamplona for Destination Athletes: Navarra's Medieval Training Grounds
The T100 Spain's new Pamplona venue reveals a training region that most destination athletes have overlooked — rolling Navarra farmland for the bike, mountain Pyrenean cols an hour away, and the Camino de Santiago through the city for long runs. The practical guide.
By ZealZag Team