Route Guides > Tour Of Aneto Itinerary

The Tour of Aneto is a new mountain bike holiday for this year. It is an adventurous trip around Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees, with some amazing mountain bike trails and two nights high on the mountain sleeping in a camp. Want to see what this holiday is all about? Read on and find out.

This trip is based in a similar area to our High Pyrenees mountain bike holiday but we go a little higher, getting a bit deeper, and doing more hike-a-bike. Some of the trails are the same but the experience is very different. The addition of the two nights of camping, something we previously only offered on our Ultimate Pyrenees trip, adds to the adventure.

The Route

The grey line shows the whole plan for the trip, where it has grey shading underneath that shows the climbs we will be doing in the van. Then the red line is the core route, which we need to do to get from point to point. Where the line is grey those are parts of the day which are optional, meaning that you have the option to miss those parts of the ride out and have an early shower and a rest. By organising our trips in this way we are able to provide a challenge to everyone, without taking undue risks and allowing the possibility to adapt the route to how you feel on the day.

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Tour of Aneto – The Route

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Tour of Aneto Day 1: Warm Up Day and Get to Know Each other

Core Route: +0m | -0m
Optional Route: +200m | -4000m

Yesterday was the day where everyone arrived and we had dinner together to get to know each other a bit. Today we will have a day with several shuttles around Benasque. We don’t limit how many shuttles you can do, but no matter how great the trails are we will try to save some energy for the adventure to come the following days. Today gives us an opportunity to ride some fantastic descents, check out our bikes and start to find the group order and get to know each other a bit. Today everyone can choose how much riding they want, with very little climbing and up to 4000m of descending for those who want it.

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Tour of Aneto Day 2: Ibon de Plan and Cruz de la Guardia.

Core Route: +700m | -1300m
Optional Route: +250m | -1200m

Today we cross from Benasque to Bielsa, riding two mythical Pyrenean descents, Ibon de Plan and Cruz de la Guardia. First we have to get there though, and that means a 600m climb, with a bit of hiking. From there we have 1300m of descending, on amazing singletrack, all the way down to the valley floor. The upper part of this trail is loose but then we quickly drop into the trees and the trail changes into classic Pyrenees singletrack. Lunch will be late and we will put on a big BBQ. For those of you who want more mountain biking, there is another uplift, followed by another 1200m of descending. Hopefully we will arrive in time for a late dinner.

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Tour of Aneto Day 3: Comodoto and all the Variations

Core Route: +250m | -1500m
Optional Route: +300m | -2500m

We start today with another big uplift followed by a short but intense hike of 200m. From here we ride the mythical Comodoto, a long, moderately technical descent which takes us all the way back down to the valley over 1500m below. The start is exposed and quite intense but that is over quickly and the trail just gets more flowy as you get lower down. After a nice outdoors lunch we will offer the possibility to ride several uplifts and fill the afternoon with 3 or 4 descents of just about the best singletrack you can imagine. This is a long day but less intense, to prepare us for tomorrow.

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Tour of Aneto Day 4: Spain to France and Back to Benasque Then a Camp

Core Route: +900m | -1100m
Optional Route: +0m | -1200m

Today we uplift to the French-Spanish border, up at 2400m, where we will ride and hike to reach a high pass at almost 2700m. This is the group’s first taste of our amazing black earth Pyrenees trails. Small, flat stones provide a perfect surface for sliding the bike around as we drop off this exposed peak. In the morning we only drop 1100m, with a short uplift in between, and we finish at the Sinner’s Bridge, where they used to hang criminals apparently! Another brilliant lunch with local produce followed by an afternoon of big uplifts and fun, flowing descents to reach Benasque again. We have time to get a quick drink before we have to set off for our camp for the night. There is a short shuttle and then a section of hiking to reach an amazing balcony where we have views out across Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees. Here our friends have taken food, drink and tents up and set up base camp for us. We will enjoy home cooked food while we watch the stars wheel above the highest mountains in the Pyrenees.

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Tour of Aneto Day 5 : Spain, France and Cataluña and Another Camp

Core Route: +750m | -1600m
Optional Route: +200m | -1500m

Today we leave the Benasque Valley and cross to France and then to Cataluña. The first climb is a 700m push which is very easy, with amazing views to Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees to the south. We reach an impossibly stunning pass, at 2500m, looking down to Luchon and the crazy French mountains where we will stop to get our breaths back. From here we have a 1500m descent down to Val d´Aran where there will be some food and cold drinks waiting for us. The afternoon will be filled with shuttles to enjoy the world class enduro trails in this valley but we can’t stay too long because we have another camp to reach. This time it is a van shuttle which will take us there so there is no more climbing for today.

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Tour of Aneto Day 6: The Big Last One

Core Route: +1000m | -2100m
Optional Route: +200m | -1500m

The last day is a big one. We will have a long uplift to a high mountain lake and from here we will have an 800m climb, mostly hiking and pushing, to reach a very high pass, just below 3000m. The views here are spectacular as you look out over to the south side of Aneto, which we saw yesterday from the north. From here we work our way along a high ridge, made up of tiny black stones which offer the perfect blend of grip and drift. Finally we drop into the main descent, dropping 2100m down to the valley below. There we will offer some more uplifts for those who are still capable, while the rest of the group enjoy a cold drink while we talk over the big adventure we have shared.

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For those of you who want to ride more uplifts we can ride the amazing Gallinero, Magic Line, Pianadona and many, many more perfect descents until you are ready to finish the day.

Tags: adventure pyrenees, pyrenees, tour of aneto

This entry was posted Thursday, July 7th, 2022 at 1:13 pm and is classified as Route Guides.