Els Àngels
Climb · Girona
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Els Àngels is a 10.6 km cycling climb averaging 3.4% (+384 m), rising from 110 m to 470 m in Girona.
10.6 km · +384 m · 3.4% avg · ~8.6% max · 110 → 470 m · 8 hairpins
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
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Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 500 m: 8.6% (km 1.8–2.2).
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 149 m | 4.2% |
| 2 | 180 m | 3.2% |
| 3 | 239 m | 5.6% |
| 4 | 294 m | 5.6% |
| 5 | 305 m | 1.0% |
| 6 | 297 m | -0.8% |
| 7 | 315 m | 1.8% |
| 8 | 332 m | 1.7% |
| 9 | 380 m | 5.1% |
| 10 | 431 m | 4.9% |
What it’s like to ride
The climb starts almost at Girona's eastern edge, on the GIV-6703, close enough to town that you are climbing within a few minutes of leaving the centre. The first kilometre is wide and easy at around 5%, kilometres two and three do most of the real work at 6 to 7% with pitches to 8%, and from about kilometre five the gradient slackens toward 2% and stays moderate the rest of the way up. It is a mix of long straights and switchbacks through woodland, shaded in places and open in others, and it flattens off and even tips downhill at least twice, so holding one steady number takes some judgement. The surface is good and there is little traffic. A large cross tells you that you have topped out; a 500 m spur to the left takes you to the Santuari dels Àngels, where the restaurant will sort you out with a drink and the view runs over Girona, the Baix Empordà, the Medes Islands and north to the Pyrenees. Can Pol, on the way up, does traditional Catalan cooking if you want the longer stop.
History
The summit this road serves has drawn people for six centuries. In 1409 the rector of Sant Martí Vell, with the bishop of Girona's permission, licensed the building of a hermitage to the Mare de Déu dels Àngels, finished around 1420, and from 1683 the confraternity enlarged the chapel and added a hostelry for pilgrims. On 8 August 1958 Salvador Dalí and Gala were married there in a secret ceremony with only five people present, the couple arriving in the Cadillac now kept at the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres. The road itself has a race of its own: the Girona Gran Fondo festival runs a timed hill climb up this side, riders setting off at two-minute intervals over roughly 11 km and 404 m of ascent.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Girona
Common questions
- How long and steep is Els Àngels?
- Els Àngels is a 10.6 km cycling climb averaging 3.4% (+384 m), rising from 110 m to 470 m in Girona.
- Where is Els Àngels steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 8.6%, between km 1.8 and km 2.2 of the climb.
- How many hairpins does Els Àngels have?
- Els Àngels has 8 hairpin bends, counted from the road's map geometry (a hairpin here means at least 150 degrees of turning completed within 150 metres of road). Painted corner numbers on some climbs count gentler bends too, so the two figures can differ.