Carretera dels Presos

Mallorca route guide · Migjorn & South

Riding Carretera dels Presos

Twenty-eight kilometres over the top of the Llucmajor limestone, climbing out of Cala Blava to a crest at 144 metres inside the first seven and then falling away so gently you stop noticing. The road runs the whole length of the plateau’s southern rim: a fort and four bunkers, five kilometres where the cliff edge comes within a hundred metres of the tarmac, the Cap Blanc light and its watchtower, and the talayotic town at Capocorb Vell. There is one café, at Cas Busso, and nothing else to eat for thirty kilometres either side of it.

This point-to-point line covers 28.2 km, from The prisoners’ road across the plateau.

This is coastal Mallorca rather than a generic blue horizon: the road’s relationship with coves, cliffs, ports, stone retaining walls, and open water is what defines it.

Captured in muntro

Relief, gradient, and how to pace it

The elevation trace is rolling rather than alpine, spanning 116 m from low point to high point. There is 171 m of total ascent, enough to reward measured pressure over the rises without turning the whole route into a survival exercise.

Ride the early gradients a shade below the effort you think you can hold. The broken rhythm rewards cadence changes and short, controlled pressure rather than repeated spikes above threshold.

Points to watch for

The best Mallorca routes are remembered as a sequence of places, not as a GPX line. These are the changes of scene that organise this ride.

1. 01

   Cala Blava

   The route rolls away from Cala Blava, giving you a few minutes to find cadence and read the road ahead.

2. 02

   The prisoners’ road across the plateau

   The prisoners’ road across the plateau is one of the route’s defining changes of scene and a useful marker for pacing the ride.

3. 03

   144 m high point

   At 144 m high point, the elevation trace reaches its ceiling before the road releases the height it has earned.

Why this road works indoors

muntro does not flatten Carretera dels Presos into a workout backdrop. The route’s bends, height, and junction order come from the road itself, while a compatible trainer reproduces the changing gradient under your pedals.

The point-to-point format gives the session a destination. There is no need to invent a finish when the real road already has one.