HIGH RISE

Tenerife's Vuelta al Teide sportive blends oxygen-starved altitudes with spellbinding volcanic terrain for a breathtaking ride. Mark Bailey heads to the playground of the professionals for an explosive adventure

- Mark Bailey

Over 2,000m above the shimmering blue expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, I'm cycling across Tenerife's sun-scorched volcanic caldera, past meteorite-shaped fragments of glistening black obsidian, eerie red sand dunes, twisted needles of rock and the stark 3,718m cone of the Teide volcano. This is the high-altitude lunar landscape of Tenerife's Teide National Park - a world of strange volcanic formations, hallucinogenic colours and one unique two-wheeled challenge.

PLAYGROUND OF THE PROS

Tenerife - a beckoning blip in the Atlantic Ocean, 300km from Africa - has become one of the key training gounds for the world's best cyclists. The best elite riders of recent times, from Sir Bradley Wiggins to Primož Roglič, have come here to boost their aerobic fitness and sculpt their climbing skills in the airless landscapes. The island is popular with amateur riders, too, thanks to its 3,000 hours of annual sunshine. But the Vuelta is the island's first major international road-cycling sportive.

At 2,034km², Tenerife is the largest of Spain's autonomous Canary Islands, and the Vuelta proudly showcases the island's diverse scenery, from pine forests and coastal views to mountain villages and volcanic landscapes. The event, launched in 2018, now attracts around 1,000 cyclists every May. Most are Spanish but some have travelled here from as far afield as Chile and New Zealand.

There are two routes available: a 175km loop from Puerto de la Cruz, in the north of the island, with a savage 4,400m of climbing; or a 95km odyssey from Santiago del Teide, in the west, to Puerto de la Cruz, with 2,000m of climbing. Neither option is easy. Both rides are spectacular. And whatever course you choose, you will have to pedal to a lung-throttling altitude of 2,361m - the highest road on the island. That's 452m higher than Mont Ventoux.