Road Cycling

With their narrow wheels, lightweight construction, and aerodynamic properties, road bikes are built with the sole aim of covering long distances on asphalt roads - and at speed.

The sport continues to be highly popular, with burgeoning sales of bikes and equipment and the emergence of ever more clubs and events, but for those who really wish to test their limits, the supreme discipline in road cycling remains the challenge of climbing over mountain passes.

Thanks to high-octane races such as the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, some of these rides now enjoy cult status for their challenging conditions, dramatic settings, and endless hairpins.  

In France, the Pyrenees and the Alps are home to the most famous climbs, but Provence also offers a classic with Mont Ventoux. In the Vosges and Massif Central, you can expect climbs with lower elevation gain, but still plenty of drama.

Italy too boasts a number of imposing mountain passes such as the Stelvio Pass. On the Sellaronda - arguably one of the most spectacular road cycling routes in the Italian Alps - you ride over no less than FOUR passes around the Sella massif. Needless to say, spectacular scenery is all part of the experience. 

With a couple of possible exceptions in the Allgäu region, Germany offers fewer truly challenging hill climbs, but this doesn't make road cycling in Germany any less enjoyable.  The Black Forest, Harz Mountains, and Thuringian Forest  are packed with opportunities, and for those who prefer more flat conditions altogether, the North and Baltic Seas provide great options.  

Needless to say, spectacular passes are also a feature of both Switzerland and Austria such as the Grossglockner, the Silvretta High Alpine Road, and the Nufenen Pass. Slovenia too has also become a popular destination for road cyclists in recent years and offers a number of tough climbs.  

If the Mediterranean climate is more your thing, why not consider making a trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca.  It has a large number of road cycling routes along the coast and in the mountains that provide ideal conditions for the start of the road bike season.

Challenging mountain passes are quite rare in the UK, with a few exceptions in Scotland, such as the Applecross Pass, the steepest road in Britain. Nevertheless, road cycling has become increasingly popular throughout the country, and routes of varying degrees of difficulty can be found throughout the country. 

Outdooractive gives you two choices when it comes to planning your trip: you can either find an existing route using the Route Finder or plan your own in the Route Planner.

We recommend making use of existing routes if you're new to cycling or are in a region you're not familiar with. You can also use the search filter to narrow down the results further to better suit your personal requirements and tastes. The Travel Guide lets you search routes all over the world.  Simply select your activity and enter the destination of your choice in the search bar. 

When planning your own route, you should pay particular attention to the cycling network. With a road bike, you should only ride on paved roads and certain cycle paths and should avoid mountain bike trails and gravel roads. 

In addition to fantastic maps from our partners such as SwissTopo, IGN, Ordnance Survey, and others, Outdooractive also offers a range of other helpful features such as offline saving, navigation with speech output, elevation profiles, Skyline augmented reality, and much, much more.