Paso Pucara is a climb of 30.4 kilometers (hors catégorie). Paso Pucara tops out at 3,252 m above sea level. It is located in Pucará, Azuay, Ecuador. The average gradient is 8.9% with a maximum of 22.5%. The climb has 2713 meters of elevation gain.
Difficulty analysis: This hors catégorie climb is extremely demanding because of its length (30.4 km) and its substantial elevation gain (2713 m). The average gradient of 8.9% is steep, but the real difficulty lies in the string of double-digit sections, especially between km 12 and 16 (gradients of 10% to 12%) and km 21 to 25 (gradients of 10% to 12%). The rare flat stretches (km 17-20, km 27-30) are too short to offer any real respite.
How to manage the effort:
1. Pacing: Start at a measured pace, below your threshold. Accumulating elevation over such a distance is the main challenge. Resist the temptation to go hard on the first 10% pitches.
2. Prepare for the crux sections: Save your legs before the two steepest stretches (km 12-16 and km 21-25). Use the gentler sections (like km 17-20) to recover by spinning the pedals without pushing.
3. Mental focus and nutrition: Break the climb down mentally into 5 km chunks. Fuel up regularly from the very start, since the total duration of the effort demands rigorous energy management.
30.4 km • 2713 m D+
VAM: average climbing speed, based on elevation gain
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