Top tips for road cycling in Mallorca

Seriously consider renting a bike. Squeezing your family and a huge bike box into a rental car is a guaranteed stressful start to a vacation and Port de Pollensa has several good shops with high spec bikes whose geometry and gearing may be better suited to long mountain climbs than the aero frame in your garage. Pro Cycle Hire Mallorca offers gorgeous Van Nicolas titanium frames with Ultegra and even Dura Ace groupsets, not to mention wheel upgrade options so even those with big bike budgets needn’t feel like they are downgrading.

Be sure to book online in advance to get the bike you want.

Go with a bike buddy. The best rides are the longer ones and the roads are mostly quiet and wide enough to ride abreast so cycling is a great way of catching up with friends (and perhaps even your spouse).

If you don’t have a bike buddy, consider joining a group ride organized by one of the local shops. These are great for familiarising yourself with the area and ensuring you have some support in case of technical difficulties.

Get going early to beat the heat and the traffic. This is especially true of the Sa Calobra route where the coaches will be arriving en masse from 10am onwards.

Triple chainrings are not for wimps and if you are too proud to take one, it could seriously impair your enjoyment.

Take your own shoes, helmet and pedals.

Take a rear light to ensure you are visible to motorists in the tunnels.

Compare yourself on Strava to the pros who occupy they KOM positions.

Take plenty of water and hydration tabs. The rides will be longer and hotter than most UK cyclists are in the habit of riding.

Stop at the Lluc monastery for a coffee and an artisanal pork pie. There is a well-hidden public swimming pool so this can also be a good place to meet the family for an afternoon out.

Ask the chef in your Scott Dunn villa to prep you some home-made energy bars/flapjacks which are a lot more appetising than endless gels.

For those that love the feeling of the wind in your hair, too bad - it is obligatory to wear a helmet in Mallorca.