This gradient is ridiculous. We can see the top from here but still don’t know if we’ll make it up the insanely steep ramp. I’m in my lowest gear, out of the saddle, hauling on the bars and driving down on the pedals for all my life is worth. If the rear tyre slips now, I’m done for. Eventually, after seconds that feel more like hours, we emerge from the apartment block carpark and our ride can begin.
This is Andorra La Vella, a mini-metropolis in the mountains; a slice of Paris in the Pyrenees. The capital city of Andorra is densely developed – hence the fiendishly tight underground parking – with compact living spaces above fancy shops selling luxury goods. Big, expensive cars squeeze along its narrow roads. It’s crowded and bustling, dripping with the kind of opulence you’d associate more with Park Avenue in New York or London’s Mayfair.