Alto de Angliru
The Alto del Angliru was introduced by the organisers of Spain’s three-week grand tour, the Vuelta a España, with the aim of establishing an inconic climb to match the likes of Alpe d’Huez and Ventoux in the Tour de France or the Mortirolo in the Giro d’Italia. First used in Spain's national grand tour in 1999, even by the standards of professional bicycle racing the Angliru is seen as a brutal climb and its inclusion in Vuelta routes has often provoked strong reactions from both riders and team managers.
Along with its increasing allure from its inclusion in the Vuelta, something that is rarely emphasised, but ought to be, is the Angliru’s smouldering, emerald beauty. While the former Swiss pro Tony Rominger rather cryptically said that: “climbing the Angliru is like looking out of the window of a plane”, the Spanish Tour de France star Samuel Sanchez could gaze out of another window, that of his house in Oviedo, and see the dark green saddle of the Angliru itself. Sanchez described it in 2011 as “the perfect climb.”
“It’s extremely beautiful,” Sanchez said. “I think that the view that the fans get up there is very good, and it also stands out because it’s very green. There’s lots of woodland up there, a lot of trees. I think it’s perfect. I’ve not ridden up the Zoncolan and the Mortirolo, but I can assure you that even though the Angliru might not be the toughest climb in the world, it is certainly one of them.”