Pas del Rei

Overview

Pas del Rei is a 7.7 km category 3 climb that lifts you from 68 m at the base to 405 m at the summit. That is 337 m of net elevation gained, packed into a road that averages a moderate 4.37%. The category 3 rating tells you most of the story: this is not a hors catégorie monster, nor a category 1 or 2 grind, but a steady mid-length effort that rewards rhythm over heroics. With a maximum pitch of 8.42%, it never tips into the brutal, yet it holds enough gradient to keep you honest from bottom to top.

How the Gradient Unfolds

The shape here is defined by the gap between the average and the maximum. At 4.37% overall but peaking at 8.42%, the climb clearly leans on a handful of steeper ramps rather than a relentless wall. Expect stretches that sit comfortably below the average, letting you carry speed, punctuated by pitches that roughly double it. The total ascent of 317 m sits just below the 337 m net gain, which signals a road that climbs almost continuously with little in the way of descending false flat. In practice that means few chances to freewheel and recover — the elevation you earn, you keep.

Pacing Notes

Because the average is modest but the ramps bite, the smart approach is to meter your effort against the steeper sections rather than the flatter run-ins. Anchor your pacing to your FTP: on the shallower kilometres, ride slightly below threshold to bank freshness, then let your power drift up over threshold on the 8.42% ramps where gravity does the resisting. Over 7.7 km a well-judged rider can hold a strong tempo without cracking on the pitches. If you are unsure what wattage you can sustain across a climb of this length, run the numbers through the FTP estimator before you commit to a pace.

Gearing

Nothing about Pas del Rei demands ultra-compact gearing, but the 8.42% maximum is steep enough to reward a bailout cog. A compact 34-tooth inner chainring paired with a 34×32 low gear covers the majority of riders comfortably across the whole 7.7 km. If you climb at lower cadence, carry fatigue from earlier efforts, or simply prefer to spin the steep ramps, drop to a 34×34 — that extra sprocket keeps your cadence high where the road briefly doubles its average gradient. For most, 34×32 is plenty; 34×34 is the insurance policy.

Summary

Pas del Rei is an honest, well-mannered category 3 climb: long enough to test your pacing over 7.7 km, steep enough at 8.42% to punish a poorly chosen gear, but forgiving in its 4.37% average. Ride it to rhythm, respect the ramps, and let the numbers guide your effort from base to summit.

Length 7.7 km
Average gradient 4.37%
Max gradient 8.42%
Start 68 m
Summit 405 m
Net gain 337 m
Total ascent 317 m
Category 3