The Coll des Grau loop

Mallorca route guide · Serra de Tramuntana

Riding The Coll des Grau loop

The quiet side of the south-western Tramuntana. The Ma-1101 leaves the Ma-10 at the Esporles gate and climbs through holm oak to the Coll des Grau, then drops round Puigpunyent to the pont de la Vila. From the village the Ma-1041 runs five kilometres down its own valley to the Ma-1016, past the Molí del Comte to Establiments, and the Ma-1040 brings you back over the coll d'en Portell into Esporles and its cafés.

This point-to-point line covers 29 km, from the Esporles gate toward the Coll des Grau toward Puigpunyent toward the Ma-1041 valley toward Establiments toward Esporles.

The mountain character comes from more than gradient. Limestone, tunnel mouths, dry-stone edges, pine shade, reservoirs, and compressed hairpins change the view as much as the elevation.

Captured in muntro

Relief, gradient, and how to pace it

This is serious vertical terrain. The road spans 386 m from bottom to top and accumulates 388 m of ascent, with sampled ramps reaching 8.6%. The profile makes the pacing decision visible before the first pedal stroke.

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

   Esporles — the MA-10 junction

   The route rolls away from Esporles — the MA-10 junction, giving you a few minutes to find cadence and read the road ahead.

2. 02

   the Esporles gate

   the Esporles gate is one of the route’s defining changes of scene and a useful marker for pacing the ride.

3. 03

   the Coll des Grau

   the Coll des Grau is one of the route’s defining changes of scene and a useful marker for pacing the ride.

4. 04

   Puigpunyent

   Puigpunyent is one of the route’s defining changes of scene and a useful marker for pacing the ride.

5. 05

   the Ma-1041 valley

   the Ma-1041 valley is one of the route’s defining changes of scene and a useful marker for pacing the ride.

Why this road works indoors

muntro does not flatten the Coll des Grau loop 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.