Santuari de Sant Salvador (Felanitx)
Climb · Mallorca
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Santuari de Sant Salvador (Felanitx) is a 5.2 km cycling climb averaging 6.1% (+323 m), rising from 143 m to 463 m in Mallorca.
The east's summit finish, with the deepest cycling shrine on the island at the top: the six rainbow jerseys of Guillem Timoner, Felanitx's motor-paced world champion, hang inside the sanctuary he trained toward. The Challenge opened its 2019 season with a finish here, and the women's Challenge opened Europe's 2026 road season on the same summit.
5.2 km · +323 m · 6.1% avg · ~11.0% max · 143 → 463 m · 13 hairpins
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
Download GPX ↓Navigate to the foot ↗
Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 500 m: 11.0% (km 3.9–4.4).
Road: paved throughout
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 180 m | 3.8% |
| 2 | 248 m | 7.4% |
| 3 | 326 m | 7.5% |
| 4 | 381 m | 5.6% |
| 5 | 458 m | 7.9% |
What it’s like to ride
The turn comes about two kilometres east of Felanitx, where you leave the main road between two pillars onto the PMV-4011, a road that does nothing but climb and then dead-end at the top. It opens through farmland dotted with olive trees, then narrows into sparse pine woodland and starts folding into hairpin after hairpin, and the views come to you most of the way up rather than only at the summit. The signpost claims 6.4% and that holds roughly true over the five kilometres, but the gradient swings: short ramps through the switchbacks touch double figures, and none of them last more than a couple of hundred metres. It is narrow enough that the tourist cars matter, and in season you will be sharing it with hundreds of other cyclists. The stone cross, Creu de Sant Salvador, marks about two thirds of the way up, and at the top there is the sanctuary and hermitage, a bar, a water fountain, and a view over most of Mallorca and the sea. Inside the sanctuary a small museum holds the six rainbow jerseys of Guillem Timoner, the Felanitx-born motor-paced world champion, which he donated himself.
History
The switchback road up the Puig was built between 1923 and 1927, planned and carried out by Miguel Rigo y Puig of Felanitx, who had been working on the project since 1917 and was given a commemorative plaque at the sanctuary in 1956; the surface stayed unpaved until 1964, and the old pilgrim path, the camí vell, still climbs the same hill beside it. The summit's cycling connection is older than any race on it: Guillem Timoner, born in Felanitx and the first Spanish world champion in the sport, trained regularly on this climb, and the six rainbow jerseys he won in motor-paced track racing between 1955 and 1965 hang framed inside the sanctuary, given to its Virgin as an offering at his own wish while he was still racing. Professional road racing reached the top on 31 January 2019, when the Trofeo Ses Salines, Campos, Porreres, Felanitx opened the Challenge Ciclista Mallorca with 177 km ending on this ascent and Jesús Herrada rode clear alone to win ahead of Guillaume Martin and Bauke Mollema. The women's Challenge used the same summit finish on 24 January 2026, the Trofeo Marratxí to Puig de Sant Salvador opening Europe's road season over 128.8 km from Marratxí, where Maeva Squiban attacked in the closing metres to beat Marlen Reusser.
More climbs in Mallorca
Common questions
- How long and steep is Santuari de Sant Salvador (Felanitx)?
- Santuari de Sant Salvador (Felanitx) is a 5.2 km cycling climb averaging 6.1% (+323 m), rising from 143 m to 463 m in Mallorca.
- Where is Santuari de Sant Salvador (Felanitx) steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 11.0%, between km 3.9 and km 4.4 of the climb.
- How many hairpins does Santuari de Sant Salvador (Felanitx) have?
- Santuari de Sant Salvador (Felanitx) has 13 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 Santuari de Sant Salvador (Felanitx)?
- Santuari de Sant Salvador (Felanitx) is paved throughout.