Ok, so this is a bit of a summery of my attempt to go under 28 min at Sa Calobra. This was my 3rd time riding up that climb, so I had some knowledge from before. I rode it up 2 times in 2024 when I first visited Mallorca. My weight was about the same as it was this time, about 64kg, but maybe with slightly more muscles on my legs.
The first time I did it I wasn’t really pushing super hard. Just under FTP effort for me while I also had a heavy handlebar bag with tools etc. Did 30:14 min @ 321w. I wasn’t aware of the golden standard of sub 30 at that time, but found out after when someone mentioned it to me.
I then had to go back for an all out effort. I dropped all my tools and bottles at the top before descending & managed to do 28:33 @ 343w, which was about 5.3-5.4 wkg. I was using a rather heavy 88mm rear wheel with a regular jersey / bib combo and did a lot of standing up. The conditions were probably a bit better regarding wind, but it was way more traffic going up. But I was very happy with that effort.
Fast forward 2 years & I’ve started focusing more on running, until I got an injury at the start of the year. I then fully focused back on riding & training, mostly indoors on Zwift. My friends invited me to go back to Mallorca again in May, so I knew I had one goal: Go under 28 minutes.
I started cutting weight in march to get down to around 65-64kg, while training as much as possible. I also watched a ton of videos about the climb to get a better sense of where to push and not. The Cycling Tattooist’s videos where fantastic to watch with his great commentary, so big shoutout to him.
So then the bike: I am using a good old S-works Venge from 2013 with rim brakes. It has upgraded components, but it’s mechanical with Dura Ace 9000 for the most part. I switched out my usual 88mm rear wheel with a Lightbicycle 45mm wheel with DT240 Hubs. I upgraded the ratchets to 54t & bought new 28c GP5000 tyres for my front & rear wheel. Front is the exact same make as the rear, but I have some cheeky ENVE stickers on the rear wheel for looks hehe.
I then bought 24g TPU tubes from Temu actually lol. I am not sure if they are real, but the “real” ones does super good in testing. Those are RideNow tubes. I used them for the full 8 days without any issues. I also bought RRS aero shoe overs also from Temu lol. Those are amazing & are super easy to put on. I then bought a Trimtex TT suite, a new Ultegra 11-28 cassette & new Dura Ace chains. Waxed the chains with Silca Super Secret formula, with the added speed & degrease chips. Had a Dura Ace 9200-FC09 54/40 crank, but decided to got for an Ultegra 52/36 instead. The weight was basically the same & I think the 40t would have been a bit unpractical to say it mildly.
The day before I was eating a very low fiber diet. Lots of soda, candy and rice etc. One the day of the attempt I had a light brekfast of cereal with a Maurten 320 mix, and took a 50g 226ERS gel before decending down. I also took 300mg of coffeine tablets about 1 hour before getting there.
There was a slight wind from SSW, which wasn’t super ideal, but it wasn’t too bad. I drove there with a car to come as early as possible to avoid cars and riders descending.
With everything ready and warmup done, I started the attempt. I think I was one of the first riders to get there, whih helped a lot as I could do more of the racing lines when it was clear to rider was gonna descend into me. The main difference from this attempt was that I was seated in an aero position 98% of the time. The only time I stood up was the last 300 meters to the top. I think MyWindsock made an analysis that it’s very beneficial to stay seated up until the end. Power wise, I actually did a slight positive split, but it was basically evenly paced. I didn’t have the Strava live segment on while doing it, which I think actually helped a lot mentally. I only did 4w more than in 2024, but I think the main gains came from the equipment but also the position and even pacing. I am nowhere near the top guys, but as an amateur cyclist I am very happy with it. I probably forgot to mention something, but if any of you have questions, feel free to ask. I’ve added some pictures of the equipment and relevant things.
), and made it to the top in 31:18. On that day, dropping below 30min was for sure impossible. This was a good effort for me, I may have been able to go 15-20secs faster, pushing thru the pain and not easing up a bit towards the end. It was during a week of riding there, didn’t really prepare or rest before the ride/climb.
