Soria

This one's all about the mango juice. But more on that later.

If you find yourself on a bike holiday or training camp in Gran Canaria, this climb should be high on your list of priorities. Heading west from the resort of Maspalomas, turn inland just before the town of Arguineguin and follow signs for Soria that take you through a tunnel under the main GC-1 highway.

From that point on the climbing technically has begun, although it doesn't feel like it as you're gifted around 14km of a warm up where the gradient hovers at around only 1-2%. It's a fun opportunity to assemble a bit of a train if you've got some friends with you and take turns in the slipstream. Serious speed can be achieved here, and even more so if - like us - you latch onto a strong local rider out for their morning ride and hang on to their wheel!

Once you pass through the cacti and colourful houses of Las Filipinas, brace yourselves for the fireworks waiting for you once you leave the village. The 1-2% gradients quickly become a distant memory, and you find yourself slogging your way up savage, angular roads of 8-9% for the rest of your way to the top of the climb.

The views are special though. Dramatic red-rock cliffs rise up all around you, as you tick off one energy-sapping switchback climb at a time. Every few minutes, you'll take another glance over your shoulder back down to the base of the valley and be surprised at how rapidly you're gaining elevation.

The lowest gear will be your closest friend as you persevere through around 5km at this unforgiving gradient before things finally level out for the sweeping freewheel into the tiny village of Soria, and (most importantly) the Casa Fernando café. One of our abiding memories of our whole Gran Canaria trip was the mango juice at this spot. Ice-cold, absolutely delicious and served with a straw in a pint glass. Worth the effort for that alone.