Pic Maià Hotel: home to professional and amateur cyclists
Ineos, Movistar Team, UAE Team Emirates, Intermarché, EF Education-EasyPost; the list goes on. Remco Evenepoel, Mattias Skjelmose, and many more professional cyclists trust Pic Maià Hotel in Pas de la Casa for their most demanding training blocks.
For cyclists, the peacefulness of the mountain passes and the minimal traffic around Pic Maià Hotel, located on El Port d’Envalira, are major reasons to choose the Principality. Add to that the proximity to France and the Catalan Pyrenees, it’s an excellent training ground for both professional and amateur cyclists.
It’s not just the location that makes Pic Maià, situated at 2,408 meters above sea level, at the top of the Port d’Envalira, one of the most trusted hotels for cyclists. It’s also the experience and knowledge of Jordi Olcina, the hotel’s sports manager, that keeps athletes coming back.
“As the hotel’s sports manager,” Olcina explains, “I personally handle the nutritional side of high-performance sports. Before each visit, I coordinate with the athletes’ nutritionists to plan out all meals during their stay. In addition, we’re happy to share our kitchen when teams bring their own chef.”
With a gym, bike storage rooms, a large private parking area that can accommodate up to five teams, and a dedicated meeting room, Hotel Pic Maià has everything needed to support both amateur and professional cyclists. Ineos, in fact, has made the hotel their permanent base at altitude.
Olcina has always had a strong personal connection with cycling. He grew up surrounded by it, thanks to his grandfather and uncle, both passionate cycling enthusiasts. “Now that I manage the hotel’s sports operations, I feel privileged. Each year, my network grows, and more teams and riders contact me directly to plan their high-altitude training camps.”
“My goal is to keep focusing on high-performance cycling,” Olcina continues, “with a special emphasis on two main pillars: rest and nutrition. On top of the nutritional support, we aim to offer the highest level of comfort across our different room types: from singles to doubles, triples, and quadruples.”
Additional challenges, whether it’s mechanical issues, last-minute nutrition needs, or early-morning doping controls, are part of the job. “Whether Skjelmose needs 100 grams of extra pasta or Evenepoel gets a check at 6 AM, we understand the importance and we’re here to support.”
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