There was a time when the Angliru was referred to in feminine terms. In late 1998, as word spread about a massive climb in mining Asturias with seemingly impossible gradients, cyclists and journalists called it “la Gamonal” — using the feminine article. It wasn’t until José Antonio Muñiz, then mayor of Riosa and the main driving force behind bringing cycling to the area, corrected the error: “The correct term is ‘el Angliru,’ which refers to the ascent. La Gamonal is the mountain itself, the summit.”
The name change did nothing to soften the climb’s brutal reputation. With sustained gradients exceeding 20% — reaching 23% at the infamous Cueña les Cabres — such steepness was unprecedented in road cycling at the time. The Vuelta a España, still under the leadership of Enrique Franco, showed remarkable courage after several reports in AS sparked excitement around the Angliru, and didn’t hesitate to include it in the 1999 edition. That race saw the historic victory of José María “Chava” Jiménez, the most charismatic Spanish cyclist of that era.
The new mountain set a trend, inspiring searches for other hellish climbs like Italy’s Zoncolan, and forced a reinvention of cycling. In those days, gearing didn’t exist for such a challenge, so a third chainring — borrowed from mountain biking — had to be mounted on the bikes. Technology has since solved that problem, but the Riosa ascent still had unfinished business: women’s cycling. Now, that debt has been paid.
The Vuelta, once again bold, included the Angliru as a stage finish this year. The race’s other iconic climb, the Lakes of Covadonga, had already served as the finale in 2023. But the Angliru — the old Gamonal — was still missing. Yesterday, it took a new step in cycling history. Paula Blasi was crowned champion at the summit, 27 years after Chava’s triumph. A new legend has been born, and a new era, atop a mythical peak.
