Alto de La Cruz

Overview

Alto de La Cruz is an hors catégorie (HC) climb, the hardest classification cycling uses before the numbered categories 1 through 4 take over. The numbers explain why: 15.8 km of climbing at an average gradient of 8.77%, lifting you from a start elevation of 666 m to a summit at 2053 m. That is a net elevation gain of 1387 m over a single, sustained effort — the kind of vertical that reshapes an entire ride around it.

What makes La Cruz unforgiving is not one feature but the combination. The average alone would rank it among the toughest HC climbs anywhere; layered on top is a max gradient of 26.37%, a wall steep enough to force even strong riders out of the saddle or into a weave. This is a climb you respect from the first pedal stroke.

How the Gradient Unfolds

Read the shape through the two ascent figures. The net elevation gain is 1387 m, while the total ascent is 1367 m — a 20 m difference that tells you the profile is almost relentlessly upward, with barely any descending or flat inside the 15.8 km. There is essentially nowhere to coast and recover.

An 8.77% average across a climb this long is brutal precisely because it is an average. Sections sit near that mean, but the 26.37% max means there are pitches far above it, and the arithmetic guarantees stretches that ease off to let those spikes exist. Expect to grind steadily, then get hit by ramps that spike your effort well past threshold before the road relents.

Pacing Notes

On a climb this long, pacing is everything. Anchor your effort to your sustainable power rather than the terrain: hold something near or just below your FTP on the steady sections, and accept that the 26.37% pitches will briefly push you over. The goal is to spend as little time as possible deep in the red, then settle back down.

If you do not know your ceiling, estimate it first with the FTP estimator. With 1387 m of gain ahead, going out even slightly too hard in the opening kilometres is the classic error — the climb will collect that debt with interest across the back half.

Gearing

Gear for survival, not pride. On a 15.8 km climb averaging 8.77% with ramps to 26.37%, a compact crankset paired with a wide cassette is the sensible baseline. A 34×32 will get many fit riders up the steady sections, but it leaves little margin when the gradient bites.

For most riders, 34×34 is the smarter choice here — that extra sprocket keeps your cadence alive on the steepest pitches and protects your legs over a climb where the total ascent is 1367 m. If your setup allows something even easier, La Cruz is exactly the climb that justifies it.

Summary

Alto de La Cruz is a full-value HC climb: long, steep, and almost entirely uphill, topping out at 2053 m after 1387 m of gain from the 666 m start. Pace to your FTP, gear low, and treat the 26.37% ramps as the moments to simply hang on.

Length: 15.8 km
Average gradient: 8.77%
Max gradient: 26.37%
Start: 666 m
Summit: 2053 m
Net gain: 1387 m
Total ascent: 1367 m
Category: HC