Stage Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Zubiri (by bike)

The 45.9 kilometres between Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Zubiri hold the greatest height gain of the entire Camino Francés by bicycle. You go from the 180 metres of the French valley to the 1,057 of the Ibañeta pass, to finish at 526 in Zubiri, with two further passes thrown in during the second half.

The first decision is which route to take. The famous Napoleon route, crossing by Orisson and the Lepoeder col at 1,450 metres, is a mountain path impassable with panniers; the alternative by Valcarlos, following the valley floor on surfaced road, is the one cyclists take. It passes through Arnéguy, on the Spanish border, and Luzaide-Valcarlos, the last village before the pass.

The climb to Ibañeta is long and steady, through beech woods, with the hardest ramps in the final kilometres. At the top, a modern chapel and a monolith recall the defeat of Charlemagne's rearguard in 778, the episode the Chanson de Roland turned into legend. A couple of kilometres of descent lead to Roncesvalles, with its Gothic collegiate church, the cloister and Charlemagne's silo, the classic starting point for those beginning the Camino in Spain.

The second half is a string of short climbs. After Burguete-Auritz and Espinal comes the pass of Mezkiritz (922 m) and, beyond Bizkarreta and Lintzoain, that of Erro (801 m). Neither is long, but they arrive with the legs already loaded.

The final descent into the Arga valley is fast and ends at Zubiri, whose name means precisely 'the village of the bridge'. You enter across the medieval Puente de la Rabia, of which tradition held that walking livestock three times around its central pier cured the disease that gives it its name.

As for logistics, the Valcarlos variant has services in Arnéguy and Luzaide-Valcarlos, and then nothing until Roncesvalles: it is worth climbing with water. The weather at the pass changes fast even in summer, so a windproof is worth carrying for the descent, and in winter the crossing can close for snow.