Puerto de Aralla

Overview

Puerto de Aralla is a category 3 climb in Spain, running 11.6 km from a valley start at 1,099 m up to a summit at 1,553 m. On paper it is a modest ascent: the net elevation gain is 454 m, and the 3.91% average gradient reads like a road you could ride steady in the saddle from bottom to top. The category and the numbers suggest a manageable day.

The profile tells a different story. While the net gain is 454 m, the total ascent is 870 m — meaning you climb roughly 416 m more than the elevation difference between start and summit. That gap is undulation: the road repeatedly gives back height you have already earned, forcing you to climb it twice. The average gradient is diluted by these descents and flats, so the pitches you actually pedal up are steeper than 3.91% would ever imply. Plan for a stop-start effort, not a smooth grind.

How the Gradient Unfolds

The 3.91% average is an accounting trick here. Because 870 m of total ascent is spread across a road that only nets 454 m, every metre of descent drags the mean down and masks the real work. Expect the climbing sections to bite well above the headline figure, with one savage ramp reaching 22.65%.

• Flatter and recovery sections where the road descends or levels, resetting your rhythm
• Repeated short climbs that stack up to the 870 m total ascent
• A steepest ramp hitting 22.65% — brief, but enough to force you out of the saddle or into your lowest gear

Pacing Notes

On a smooth climb you would hold even effort and let speed drift with the grade. Aralla's undulation breaks that logic. Ride the descents and flats as genuine recovery rather than chasing an average speed, then commit hard on the ramps. Anchor your climbing pitches to your sustainable power output and accept that your average speed will swing wildly across the profile.

Pace by effort, not by the clock. If you do not know your ceiling, run the FTP estimator before you go so you have a number to hold against on the steep sections.

Gearing

The 22.65% ramp governs your setup, not the gentle average. At that gradient a standard chainset will leave you grinding a cadence you cannot sustain. Fit a compact or sub-compact chainset paired with a wide-range cassette — a 34×32 or 34×34 gives you the low end to spin the steepest pitch instead of muscling it. Check your chainrings and cassette before the ride; the worst place to discover you are over-geared is halfway up a 22.65% wall.

Summary

• Length: 11.6 km
• Average gradient: 3.91%
• Maximum gradient: 22.65%
• Net elevation gain: 454 m
• Total ascent: 870 m
• Category: 3

Puerto de Aralla is a climb defined by its undulation. The category 3 label and the 3.91% average undersell the 870 m of total ascent and the 22.65% ramp waiting inside it. Pace by effort, gear low, and treat the descents as recovery — do that, and the numbers work in your favour.