The cycling event Sierra Nevada Limite changes route
The legendary cycling tour, with start and finish in Pradollano, this year takes in the villages of the Alhama and Valle de Lecrín regions with a unique 155-kilometre route. The Alto del Legionario, El Purche and Alto de Las Sabinas mountain passes, the most difficult for the cyclists.
The Sierra Nevada Límite 2022, the great cycling tour of southern Spain, will be held on Saturday 16 July with a substantial change of route which, starting and finishing in Pradollano, will take cyclists to villages in the area of Alhama and Valle de Lecrín over a single distance of 155 kilometres.
The ride, with a neutralised descent along the A-395 road from Pradollano to the junction with the Purche towards Monachil, will face new passes along the route (the Legionario) and will recover another one, such as the Purche, an emblematic climb in professional and amateur cycling.
The technical director of the race, the professional cyclist Carlos Olmedo, underlined that the new route has great symbolism in the world of cycling, as it incorporates routes that are common among amateurs, such as the long straights of La Malahá and Ventas de Huelma, or the Alto del Monachil (Purche), where it is also common these days to find the professional teams preparing for the Tour de France.
Regarding the mountain passes of this new edition, Olmedo pointed out that the first major difficulty of the route, the El Legionario pass, some 8 kilometres long, "will be tough and will give the cyclists a hard time".
This point will link the route with the Cabra road to start the cyclists' return, via Suspiro del Moro and Otura, towards Monachil, where the great colossus of El Purche awaits them, "the scene of some of the best battles in professional cycling" with ramps of up to 19% in the quarry section.
From El Dornajo, the Sierra Nevada Límite will head for the last mountain difficulty, the Alto de las Sabinas, already at the 2,000-metre altitude limit, to return to the starting point in Pradollano.
The march will run in closed traffic in a one-hour capsule starting from the head of the race, while from there onwards it will be open traffic.
The following day, the mythical cyclotourism to the Veleta, between Cenes de la Vega and the vicinity of the mythical peak of Sierra Nevada, will take place.
Registration until 3 July at: sierranevadalimite.com
