Clasica de Almeria

The Clásica de Almería is a men's one-day bike race in the province of Almería, in the southeast of Spain, held in February. It began in 1988 as the Ruta de las Hortalizas and took its present name in 1993. The first half is hilly, the second half follows the coast, and from 2016 to 2026 the finish was in Roquetas de Mar every year.

The Clásica de Almería is a men’s one-day race in the province of Almería, in the southeast corner of Spain, held in February. It goes over the hills behind the coast in its first half and comes back to the sea for a sprint in Roquetas de Mar.

The Ruta de las Hortalizas of 1988

The race was first held in 1988 under another name: the Ruta de las Hortalizas, the vegetable route. The cycling club Peña Ciclista Muñoz organized it with the town council of La Mojonera, and the organizer still lists the promotion of Almería’s farm produce among the aims of the race. Vícar joined in 1989, and Roquetas de Mar, Berja, Adra, Dalías and El Ejido followed.

In 1993 the organizers and the provincial government gave the race the name of the province. The organizer counts that edition as the first for professionals, and Viatcheslav Ekimov won it. The race director, José Muñoz, describes the organization as a family one and a humble one.

Alejandro Valverde’s first professional race

From 1993 the route spread over the whole province, with starts and finishes in the city of Almería or in Vera, in the east. The 2002 race went from Puebla de Vícar to Vera. A first-year professional from the Kelme team rode the first race of his career that day and finished eighth: Alejandro Valverde. Massimo Strazzer won, five years after his first victory here, and became the first rider to take the race twice. Valverde was on the start line again in 2021.

Why did the 2016 race last only 28 minutes?

The wind stopped it. The 2016 edition was planned over 184 kilometers along the coast, but the gusts blew sand at the riders, the first 15 kilometers were neutralized, and the race was halted and restarted several times. The organizers then took the riders back to Roquetas de Mar for seven laps of a circuit in the town. Leigh Howard won in 28 minutes 29 seconds, after the field had split in the crosswind inside the last two kilometers.

In 2015 Mark Cavendish’s team split the field in a crosswind after the last climb, and he won the sprint of the front group. In 2023 a strong east wind blew and several teams tried to form echelons, but it came mostly from the front, and Matteo Moschetti won the sprint.

Alto de Celín, the main climb of the hilly first half

From 2023 to 2026 the race started in Puebla de Vícar, and the routes of 2024, 2025 and 2026 passed through all seven municipalities of the Poniente, the west of the province. The organizer describes the course in two halves: a hilly one, where the breakaway forms and most of the climbs come, and a flat one that is open to the wind. The main climb is the Alto de Celín, at Dalías, 6.7 kilometers at 5.5 percent, with its top after about 46 kilometers. The last is the Cuesta de Almerimar, 1.3 kilometers at 4.6 percent, with a little more than 50 kilometers left.

Avenida Juan Carlos I: the finish in Roquetas de Mar

The finish was in Roquetas de Mar every year from 2016 to 2026, and the riders see the line on the Avenida Juan Carlos I three times. The first passage comes 30 kilometers from the end, and the last lap of the town is about six kilometers long.

In 2024 Wout van Aert led out his teammate Olav Kooij and pulled aside 150 meters from the line. Several riders came from behind at speed, and Kooij needed the photo finish to beat Moschetti, the winner of the year before. In 2025 the Cofidis team reached the front just before the last corner and Milan Fretin won in his first race of the year. In 2026 Fretin had a mechanical problem 18 kilometers from the finish, was brought back to the peloton by his teammates and still finished second to Biniam Girmay.

Has anyone won the Clásica de Almería three times?

No. Strazzer, in 1997 and 2002, and Pascal Ackermann, in 2019 and 2020, have two wins each, and Ackermann is the only rider who won in consecutive years.

His first win came from a front group that formed when the field split on the Alto de Turrillas, the last climb of the 2019 route. On the line he beat Marcel Kittel, the sprinter he called the idol of his youth, by barely half a tire’s width. A year later he started his sprint early and held off Alexander Kristoff. Kristoff came back in 2022 and won, his first victory on Spanish roads.

In 2024 Wout van Aert led out his teammate Olav Kooij and pulled aside 150 meters from the line, and Kooij needed the photo finish to beat Matteo Moschetti. In 2016 the wind was so strong that the race was cut to seven laps of a circuit in Roquetas de Mar, and Leigh Howard won in 28 minutes 29 seconds.