Mallorca is the default. If you ride a road bike in northern Europe and you are thinking about a training trip, Mallorca is the answer you arrive at without having to think, and there are good reasons for that: it is close, it is cheap to fly to, and the riding is excellent.
This is an argument that Cyprus is worth considering instead, written by people who obviously have an interest in you choosing it. So it is worth being straight about where Mallorca wins, because it does, and a comparison that pretends otherwise is not useful to anybody.
Where Mallorca is better
Start here, because it is the shorter list and because it decides the question for a lot of riders.
- Flights. Cheaper, shorter and far more frequent from most of northern Europe. This is the biggest single difference and for a long weekend it is close to decisive.
- Cycling infrastructure. Decades of cycling tourism have produced a density of bike-friendly hotels, cafes, mechanics and hire shops that Cyprus does not have and will not have soon.
- The famous climbs. Sa Calobra and the Coll de Sóller are known quantities with known numbers. If ticking them off is the point of the trip, Cyprus cannot offer the equivalent.
- Group riding. In February there are thousands of cyclists on the island. If you want to find a wheel to sit on without organising anything, that is a real advantage.
If any of those four is what you are optimising for, book Mallorca. The rest of this is for the riders for whom they are not.
Where Cyprus is better: the season
This is the substantial argument and it is mostly about January and February. Cyprus sits considerably further south and east than Mallorca (closer to the latitude of the Middle Eastern coast than to the western Mediterranean), and the winter climate reflects that.
A Mallorcan January is perfectly rideable and it is not warm. The Tramuntana can be cold and wet, and a January camp there is often a story about kit. A Cypriot January is ordinary long-sleeve riding on the coast with the sleeves off by midday. If your target is a spring event and you need to be putting in real hours in midwinter, that gap is the whole point.
We have written about what those months actually feel like on the bike in cycling here in winter, including the parts that are less flattering.
Where Cyprus is better: crowding
Mallorca’s popularity is also its main drawback. In peak camp season the classic routes carry a great deal of traffic, much of it other cyclists, and some of it large groups riding badly. Local resentment of cycling tourism is a real and reasonable thing there.
Cyprus has no equivalent. On a winter morning in the east of the island you can ride for an hour and see a handful of cars. Whether that is an advantage depends on what you want: it is quieter riding and it is also a lonelier trip, with fewer other cyclists to fall in with.
The climbing, honestly compared
Mallorca’s climbing is concentrated: the Tramuntana runs along one side of the island and everything famous is in it. That concentration is a feature: you can ride from a coastal town straight into serious climbing without a transfer.
Cyprus is the other shape. Mount Olympus in the Troodos stands at 1,952 metres, which is higher than anything in Mallorca, and the climbs are long and sustained rather than short and dramatic. But the mountains sit in the middle of the island, so from most coastal bases you drive out to them rather than riding from the door.
That transfer is the honest cost of the Cypriot mountains and there is no way around it. The usual pattern is one mountain day in the middle of a week of coastal riding, with a car or a supported trip to get there, which is how our own guided cycling tours handle it, and it is described in climbing in the Troodos.
Terrain variety
This is where the two islands separate most clearly. Mallorca gives you mountains and a flat plain. Cyprus gives you a gentle rolling coast, agricultural country inland, real mountains, and off-road terrain at the coast that is rideable in the same week.
For a mixed group (a couple of strong riders, someone building back from a winter off, a partner who wants two easy days and a beach), that variety is worth a lot. For a homogeneous group of trained riders who want climbing every day, it is worth less than Mallorca’s concentration.
Cost
The flight is more expensive to Cyprus from most of Europe and that is unlikely to change. On the ground the comparison is closer, and in the winter months, which is when a training trip happens, the east coast of Cyprus is out of its own tourist season, which shows in what a week costs.
It is not a dramatic difference either way. Anyone choosing on price alone should choose Mallorca on the flight and stop there.
The things nobody mentions until you arrive
- Cyprus drives on the left. Mallorca does not. For most European riders this is the single biggest adjustment and it is worth taking seriously for the first couple of days.
- Wind, not gradient, sets the difficulty on the Cypriot coast. A flat coastal out-and-back can be a much harder ride than its profile suggests.
- The Cypriot summer is too hot for midday riding in a way a Mallorcan summer mostly is not. July and August here mean a 05:00 start.
- Fewer bike shops. If something breaks in Mallorca you are near a mechanic. In Cyprus that is much less reliably true, which is an argument for hiring rather than flying with a bike you cannot get parts for.
So which one?
Mallorca if it is a long weekend, if the flight cost matters, if you want the named climbs, or if riding with a lot of other cyclists is part of the appeal.
Cyprus if you are coming in deep winter and want reliably warmer riding, if you want quiet roads, if the group is mixed, or if you have done Mallorca several times and want somewhere that does not feel like a cycling theme park.
If it is Cyprus, the next question is which end of the island. That is less obvious than it looks, and we have set out both cases in where to base yourself. Our bike rental in Cyprus covers the east coast with delivery to your hotel, and our training camps are built for exactly the winter-block trip described above.
Is Cyprus warmer than Mallorca in winter?
Generally yes, and the gap is widest in the depth of winter. Cyprus lies substantially further south and east, and coastal riding there in January and February is typically comfortable in long sleeves in a way a Mallorcan January often is not. Both islands have cold mountain weather; both need a forecast checked at altitude rather than at sea level.
Which has better climbing?
Mallorca for accessibility and reputation; Cyprus for altitude and sustained length. The Troodos go higher and the climbs are longer, but they are inland, so you spend part of the day travelling to them. Mallorca lets you ride into the mountains from a coastal hotel, which for a climbing-focused week is a real advantage.
Is Cyprus good for a first training camp?
It is a good choice if the group is mixed or if anyone is nervous about being dropped, because the coastal riding is forgiving and short loops are easy to build. It is a less good choice if you want the reassurance of a place where everything is already set up for cyclists. That is Mallorca’s strength and it is a real one for a first trip.