Stage Zamora to Santa Croya de Tera (By bike)

The stage links Zamora with the Tera valley in a single ride of 89.6 kilometres, the longest of the entire Sanabrés itinerary by bike. The cumulative climb is moderate, some 635 metres of ascent spread over gentle rises, and the surface, mostly compact farm tracks and stretches of secondary road, allows a steady rhythm. The difficulty lies in the distance and the exposure: the Zamoran plateau offers little shade and few services between villages, so it is best to set out early and carry enough water.

Leaving Zamora, the route puts the Romanesque old town and the Duero behind and heads into the Tierra del Pan district, open cereal country stretching to the horizon. Roales del Pan is the only settlement before Montamarta, at kilometre 19, reached along a straight, flat track running parallel to the N-630. It is a fast section with no technical difficulty, ideal for warming up.

After Montamarta the route skirts the Ricobayo reservoir and passes the ruins of Castrotorafe, a fortified medieval town above the Esla, now abandoned. Fontanillas de Castro and Riego del Camino punctuate a stretch profoundly altered by the building of the A-66 motorway. At kilometre 42 comes Granja de Moreruela, the crossroads that gives the whole day its meaning: here the Vía de la Plata splits between the northern branch, climbing towards Astorga, and the north-western one, which heads into Sanabria on its way to Ourense. The monastery of Santa María de Moreruela, a Cistercian house founded in 1158 and now in ruins, is worth a stop.

Now on the Sanabrés proper, the route drops to Puente Quintos to cross the river Esla and faces the only genuinely demanding ramp of the day, short but steep. Long, comfortable tracks then follow through holm oak groves and patches of Mediterranean woodland that break up the cereal monotony of the previous hours. The entrance to Tábara, 67 kilometres in, is presided over by the church of Santa María, famous for having housed the scriptorium where the Beatus of Tábara was illuminated.

The last twenty kilometres run along tracks and local lanes through Bercianos de Valverde and Villanueva de las Peras, over more rolling and wooded terrain, before descending into the Tera valley. Santa Croya de Tera, a small hamlet on the riverbank, lies a step away from Santa Marta de Tera, whose Romanesque church preserves the oldest known sculptural depiction of Saint James as a pilgrim. It is a quiet finish beside the water, the prelude to the climb into the Sanabria region that awaits the following day.