Puig Major (from Sóller)
Mallorca
Gradient by colour: under 3% 3–6% 6–9% 9%+
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
Puig Major (from Sóller) is a 15.9 km cycling climb averaging 5.4% (+864 m), rising from 21 m to 874 m in Mallorca.
The island's highest road, cut for the Cold War: the Ma-10 out of Sóller was built by about 1,000 local workers with machinery left over from the American radar station, and opened in 1961. The Challenge Mallorca races it as a first-category climb, Kwiatkowski holds the fastest recorded ascent at 33:12, and the Monnàber tunnel at 850 m is as high as a road bike gets on Mallorca.
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Where it bites
Steepest 500 m: 12.3% (km 15.2–15.5).
Road: paved throughout
What it’s like to ride
The Ma-10 out of Sóller sets a rhythm rather than a fight, holding around 6% for most of the way with no pitch steep enough to force you out of the saddle. The first narrow hairpin comes after about a kilometre, the road tightens, and dense pine forest closes over it; the Fornalutx turn is signposted near km 4 for water and cafés, but the village sits off the climb. Around km 6 the gradient eases and a tight turn leads up on the left to the Mirador de Ses Barques, the one proper stop on the way, with food and a terrace looking out over Port de Sóller and the coast. Above that the views disappear for a good while and the hardest stretch arrives at km 11 and 12, both averaging over 7%, before a viewpoint about 500 m from the top opens onto the Tramuntana ridge running toward a distant shoreline. The climb ends at the Túnel de Monnàber at roughly 850 m, the highest point on Mallorca you can reach on a road bike, and the tunnel is lit but a light is sensible; the Cúber reservoir appears between the rocks as you come out the far side. Nothing is sold at the tunnel itself, the road above it to the 1,436 m summit belongs to a military base and is closed to cyclists, and the next café is at Escorca by the Sa Calobra junction about 11 km on.
History
The road up from Sóller was cut for the Cold War. The Madrid Pacts of September 1953 between Spain and the United States put a NATO radar station on the summit of Puig Major, and its two domes were switched on in July 1959. The American machinery left over from that job was then reused on the road from Sa Calobra to Sóller: three years of work by about 1,000 people, most of them from Sóller, and a 17 km route with two tunnels was inaugurated on 23 July 1961. Professionals race it in the Challenge Mallorca, and in the 2024 Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, 153.8 km from Selva to Lluc, the peloton crossed the Coll de Sóller and then took on the first-category 14.2 km Puig Major, where Aleksandr Vlasov attacked five kilometres from the top and Lennert Van Eetvelt bridged across to win the sprint at Lluc. Since 2023 the Subida a la Bola del Puig Major has timed riders from the Sóller fire station at Ma-10 km 51.5 up to the radar dome on the summit, with close to 500 taking part in 2025, won by Steven Dillen and Antònia Siquier. The fastest recorded Strava ascent of the climb belongs to Michał Kwiatkowski, 33:12.
Common questions
- How long and steep is Puig Major (from Sóller)?
- Puig Major (from Sóller) is a 15.9 km cycling climb averaging 5.4% (+864 m), rising from 21 m to 874 m in Mallorca.
- Where is Puig Major (from Sóller) steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 12.3%, between km 15.2 and km 15.5 of the climb.
- How many hairpins does Puig Major (from Sóller) have?
- Puig Major (from Sóller) has 9 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.
- What is the road surface like on Puig Major (from Sóller)?
- Puig Major (from Sóller) is paved throughout.
15.9 km · +864 m · 5.4% avg · ~11.4% max · 21 → 874 m · 9 hairpins