Vallter 2000
Climb · Girona
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Vallter 2000 is a 11.8 km cycling climb averaging 7.3% (+869 m), rising from 1282 m to 2151 m in Girona.
11.8 km · +869 m · 7.3% avg · ~12.4% max · 1282 → 2151 m · 14 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: 13.1% (km 3.2–3.6).
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1334 m | 5.4% |
| 2 | 1404 m | 7.2% |
| 3 | 1485 m | 7.6% |
| 4 | 1592 m | 11.4% |
| 5 | 1653 m | 6.2% |
| 6 | 1750 m | 9.4% |
| 7 | 1851 m | 10.1% |
| 8 | 1887 m | 3.7% |
| 9 | 1953 m | 6.2% |
| 10 | 2033 m | 8.8% |
| 11 | 2107 m | 7.2% |
What it’s like to ride
The road runs out at Setcases, about 1,260 m up the Ter valley, and everything above the village is a single dead end to the ski station car park at roughly 2,145 m. The first kilometres are honest but manageable; from around kilometre three to kilometre eight it turns mean, with over 25 ramps steeper than 10% and pitches into the 14–15% range. A short easing near kilometre eight is the only real breather, and then five switchbacks stack up a near-vertical slate wall to gain some 300 m. The last eleven hairpins are painted with the names of the sport's big races, the Giro's bend in pink, the Tour's in yellow, the rest red, and the final one before the finish given to the Volta a Catalunya. Above the treeline it is limestone crag, grass and, in summer, brown longhorn cattle grazing the high pasture with their bells audible from the road; the French border is only a couple of kilometres away, and the whole upper valley sits inside the Parc Natural de les Capçaleres del Ter i el Freser. The top is the station itself, six car parks and lift buildings, where between 20 July and 15 September the resort runs a summer information desk and posts riders' Strava times.
History
The road exists because someone wanted a ski station up here. Josep Pujol Aulí, from Camprodon, saw the potential of the Ull de Ter cirque and founded Vallter S.A. in 1968 with 450,000 pesetas of capital; construction of the access road from Setcases up to the Pla de Morens began in August 1974, on land ceded by the Patrimonio Forestal del Estado and with the Diputació de Girona covering half the cost. The first lift, Morens I, went in that December, and Vallter 2000 opened to the public on 17 January 1975. Racing arrived later: the Volta a Catalunya finished a stage here in 1986, won by Juan Fernández, and again in 1992 with Tony Rominger, then returned after a twenty-year gap and has used the summit regularly since, with wins for Nairo Quintana (2013), Tejay van Garderen (2014), Adam Yates (2019 and 2021), Giulio Ciccone (2023) and Tadej Pogačar (2024). Remco Evenepoel holds the Strava record for the ascent at 29 minutes 36 seconds.
More climbs in Girona
Common questions
- How long and steep is Vallter 2000?
- Vallter 2000 is a 11.8 km cycling climb averaging 7.3% (+869 m), rising from 1282 m to 2151 m in Girona.
- Where is Vallter 2000 steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 13.1%, between km 3.2 and km 3.6 of the climb.
- How many hairpins does Vallter 2000 have?
- Vallter 2000 has 14 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.