The city that keeps producing Grand Tour riders, and what it’s like to ride there as a visitor.
Medellín sits in a valley at around 1,500 metres, which means every ride out of the city is a climb and every rider who lives there is training at altitude without trying. Las Palmas, Alto de Boquerón and Santa Elena all rise straight out of town.
Colombia’s record in Grand Tours is not an accident of talent alone — it is what happens when climbing is simply the shape of the terrain. Sunday mornings bring closed roads for the ciclovía and a volume of riders that visitors from quieter countries find startling.
Riding here as a visitor takes some planning: traffic on the valley floor is heavy, the climbs are long, and the weather turns in the afternoon. Our Medellín guide covers the routes worth the trip.
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