Ancient soil, endless gravel
A 300-kilometre gravel circuit through the heart of cava country, starting and finishing at Vilafranca del Penedès — an hour by train from Barcelona. Roughly two-thirds unpaved: farm tracks and pure gravel between the vineyards, olive groves and almond orchards of the Alt Penedès, linked by quiet empty roads. The route threads the historic towns of Pontons and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, the capital of cava, where Freixenet and Codorníu have their cellars; it crosses the Foix reservoir, pushes into the limestone Garraf massif, and traces vine-covered slopes beneath the silhouette of Montserrat.
With 4,600 metres of climbing packed into 300 kilometres, this is not flat vineyard cruising — it rolls constantly between river valleys and ridgelines. Most ride it across two or three unhurried days, sleeping among the vines; the fast and the stubborn take it on in a single 24-hour push. The line is the same — how hard you ride it is yours to decide.
