Calonge and Portopetró: the torrent lane circuit

Mallorca route guide · Llevant & East Coast

Riding Calonge and Portopetró: the torrent lane circuit

Two dead ends became one circuit the day the camí des Torrent d’en Vica was laid. This is that circuit ridden: out of Santanyí’s gate roundabout on the Ma-19, over the corridor’s 121.7 m summit above Portopetró, then off the numbered road onto the torrent lane — two and a half kilometres of walled camí down to the Ma-4012 at Calonge — and home the long way over the Ma-4016’s roof through es Carritxó. Twenty-eight kilometres of Llevant back country with one short stretch of anything a bus would use, finishing across the roundabout from where it began.

This point-to-point line covers 28.3 km, from Santanyí, the 121.7 m summit, and the 2.4 km camí that closed the ring.

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 146 m from low point to high point. There is 279 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

   Santanyí

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

2. 02

   Santanyí, the 121.7 m summit, and the 2.4 km camí that closed the ring

   Santanyí, the 121.7 m summit, and the 2.4 km camí that closed the ring is one of the route’s defining changes of scene and a useful marker for pacing the ride.

3. 03

   172 m high point

   At 172 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 Calonge and Portopetró: the torrent lane circuit 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.