october-2012

SPORTSMAN’S HOLIDAY
If the Olympics have left you feeling you’d like to be more than just
a spectator, try a break on Mallorca. The island offers the best in
cycling, sailing, golf and more under a warm winter sun
Around a million people
visit Mallorca each
year, drawn to the
island’s picturesque bays,
crystal-clear waters and 300
days of sunshine. And it’s not
just holidaymakers. During the
winter months, the island
becomes a training camp for
international athletes, drawn by
the mild climate and excellent
infrastructure. Team Sky, the
UK professional cycling squad
that includes Mark Cavendish
and Bradley Wiggins, trained
here prior to its wins in the Tour
de France and London Olympics.
You don’t have to be a sports
professional to enjoy the island,
however. Mallorca off ers a rich
array of outdoor activities for all
its visitors. Cycling and water
sports are the most popular,
followed by hiking, golf and
tennis, and the island’s
temperate winters make them a
much more fun prospect than
they’d be back home at the same
time of year.
Mallorca is a sailor’s paradise,
boasting 555km of coastline, 42
offi cial harbours and 152 places
to drop anchor. The island’s
perfect wind and weather
conditions and stunning natural
surroundings also attract
windsurfers, kite surfers,
canoeists, divers and other water
sports enthusiasts.
Amateur sailors are well
catered for, with charter offi ces
and nautical centres situated in
every marina and open all year
Mallorca bietet gerade zum Segeln
besonders günstige Bedingungen
Mallorca is ideal for a sailing holiday
round. Experienced skippers
can attend Sail and Surf ’s new
masterclass and skiff weeks in
Pollença. The water sports
school has been organising
sailing courses for all levels of
ability since 1970.
Between October and April,
Mallorca’s streets swarm with
professional cyclists. The island
has 1,250km of roads, half of
which are secondary highways
around 6.5m wide with 20%
being in the mountains. It’s one
of Europe’s main training sites
for professional racing, plus
mountain and hobby cyclists,
and off ers some exhilarating
runs: the road in the northeastern
part of the island
between Alcúdia and Cape
Formentor is winding, narrow
and frankly hair-raising; the
route through Andratx and
Valldemossa in the south-west is
steep and challenging; and the
165km-long Queen’s stage
through the Tramuntana
mountains is a favourite with
professionals.
In Arenal, fi ve-time cyclocross
world champion Albert
Zweifel and fellow Swiss and
cycling professional Max
M A L L O R C A
Hürzeler run a cycling hotel
which off ers bike tours of the
island. You can rent mountain
and road bikes in pretty much
every village and town on
Mallorca. Touring is at its best in
December, when the trees are
heavy with ripe oranges.
As well as getting in a lot of
cycle practice, triathletes come
to Mallorca to work on their
swimming and running skills.
The Best Swim Centre in
Colonia Sant Jordi is one of
Europe’s top training centres
with a 50m pool, in which
swimmers can be fi lmed from
GW—67