Fabulous winter road cycling in the Canary Islands & more!

Winter 2025 road cycling holidays in Tenerife & Gran Canaria: available for booking!

Who wants to escape the winter and go road cycling in the Canary Islands next year? (Answer: we do!)

In February 2025, we’ll be heading back to TENERIFE! This tour is a firm favourite and one of our itineraries that always sells out very quickly. Check out the itinerary and get in touch pronto if you’d like to reserve your place on this fabulous cycling holiday!

In addition, we’re beyond excited to be heading back to GRAN CANARIA : a glorious cycling destination for winter sun and warming up the legs pre-season. We’ve crafted a NEW and IMPROVED itinerary that really does cover the whole island, so we wanted to showcase it in this newsletter. Unlike most cycling holiday providers, we’ve designed daily routes that include all the very best bits of Gran Canaria, which isn’t possible on most other tours which only cover routes in the south.

Female cyclist smiling while cycling above the clouds on full support cycling holiday in Tenerife with Marmot Tours
Escape the cold on a glorious winter sun cycling holiday to Tenerife

Road cycling in Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria has earned its reputation as a top cycling destination for professionals and amateurs alike. Its climate, quality roads, challenging climbs, and striking landscape make it the perfect location for a winter cycling escape. The island is a great choice if you want to shake off the winter blues for a training week, to build up your physical strength.

On this epic tour, you’ll have a chance to conquer all the climbs Gran Canaria is known for. The infamous Valley of the Tears, all three ascents of Pico de las Nieves, and many more!

Map of Gran Canaria with cycling routes of Marmot Tours road cycling holidays Gran Canaria
Our routes allow you to experience all the best bits of Gran Canaria

Cycling tour of Gran Canaria highlights

  • Tour the island staying in cyclist-friendly 4* hotels, including the renowned Parador, popular with the pro teams.
  • Six days of cycling all the must-do climbs of the south and less visited north.
  • Conquer the spectacular Valley of the Tears climb.
  • Optional sea-to-summit challenge Pico de las Nieves.
  • Flexible pace tour with daily route options, including a manageable Classic route plus optional extra loops and climbs.
  • Exceptional support from two Marmot guides and vans.
  • Many flight options from UK regional airports, and beyond.
Cyclists on Valley of the Tears climb Gran Canaria in steep rocky valley with hairpins on Marmot Tours guided road cycling holiday rocky
Challenge yourself on the merciless Valley of the Tears climb

Go at your own pace and enjoy the ride!

Both our Tenerife and Gran Canaria tours follow our Classic flexi-route, flexi-pace holiday format, meaning you have options for how much or how little you choose to ride each day. They are perfect if you’re holidaying with a friend, partner, or group of riders with different abilities or aspirations. There are easier routes each day, which allow you to skip some of the tougher climbs – ideal if you want a more relaxed cycling experience, while still making the most of the terrain.

Due to local regulations, our Canarian cycling tours operate slightly differently from our other European road cycling holidays. We hire the support vehicles locally and then kit them out with all the Marmot essentials to provide you with the unique level of support we offer. We’re unable to take our fleet of hire bikes to the island so instead we arrange hire bikes locally if you don’t want to bring your own. You will, of course, receive the same exceptional support from two super-skilled, encouraging (and fun!) Marmot guides on the road, there to support YOU and to help you have an incredible cycling holiday.

Pair of cyclists enjoying break with snacks and fruit on Marmot Tours full support road cycling holiday on Tenerife
Stay fuelled with our tasty snacks and fresh fruit supplied by your guides throughout each day

The best fully supported cycling holiday experience

The support vans will carry your day bag with extra kit for those chilly descents, plus plenty of water, fresh fruit, healthy snacks, jelly sweets, and cake or local treats. Add to this the tools we carry to offer you mechanical support, not to mention the encouragement from your guides to get you up those climbs, and you can devote yourself to enjoying the ride and the dramatic scenery of the island.

If you’ve been on one of our holidays before, you’ll know that each day, smaller groups often splinter off, comprising cyclists who ride at a similar pace and have similar holiday goals. By having two guides in vehicles on each trip, we’re able to support you, regardless of your pace. This is YOUR holiday, so we won’t pressure you to keep up with or wait for other riders but will support you as an individual.

As always on winter cycling holidays in the Canaries, you’ve got a good chance of spotting the pro teams out on the road. They might give you that extra inspo needed to get you up that climb!

Wout van Wert pro cyclist and Marmot Tours guide Tim Myers
Marmot guide Tim happily obliged when Wout van Aert asked for a selfie earlier this year

Finally, you’ll be staying in four fabulous 4* hotels all with pools and spas, so after a tough day in the saddle, you’ll be rewarded with a wonderful place to relax and spend the night.

Road cycling holiday discounts!

We’ve got some great discounts on offer:

  • Book and pay your deposit more than six months in advance of the start of your holiday for our 5% early bookers discount.
  • Get a group of 10+ people together for a 7.5% group discount and, as the group organiser, receive a £150 voucher for your next holiday.
  • Be rewarded for your loyalty by receiving a 10% discount from your third Marmot Tours holiday onwards.

Please note there is a maximum 10% discount on any holiday (15% for non-cycling companions on selected tours only) and discounts do not apply to extras such as single room supplements or bike hire.

Book now!

To read the full details of our Tour of Tenerife, our revised Tour of Gran Canaria and to express your interest, just click on the ENQUIRE NOW button from either webpage. We’ll be right back in touch with you to discuss any queries you have or to get your name on the list.

Cyclists descending Pico de las Nieves climb Gran Canaria with multiple hairpins beneath blue skies on full support cycling holiday with Marmot Tours
Descending the Pico de las Nieves climb in Gran Canaria

Places on these itineraries are sure to fill up fast so if you’re keen, and especially if you’d like to come as part of a group, then get in touch soon! We look forward to helping you put your winter 2025 cycling holiday plans in place!


Our Spring road cycling holidays are underway!

Screenshot of Marmot Tours European guided road cycling holidays team training on Zoom
A selection of the Marmot Tours team on one of our Zoom training sessions recently

Already this month we’ve had glowing reports from our spring Andalusia, Catalonia and Ventoux & the Verdon Gorge tours. We’ve helped riders from the UK, the US and elsewhere experience some amazing cycling with awesome weather, great camaraderie and, of course, the stunning landscape in all three locations spoke for itself.

Cyclists climbing sunny road with mountain backdrop surrounded by trees on guided cycling tour of Andalusia with Marmot Tours
Enjoying Andalusia’s perfect spring climate earlier this month

If you’re not doing so already, follow us on Facebook or Instagram to see all the latest updates and inspo from the road. You might even spot yourself on the grid!


2025 Road cycling holidays incoming!

You’ll be pleased to know that we’re putting together our schedule of departures and fabulous, full-support road cycling tours for spring and summer 2025! This is just a heads-up if you’re interested in coming on holiday with us as part of a group. If so, then get in touch now, as we will try our best to incorporate your preferred dates into our schedule.

You might also like to know that we’re planning on heading to Corsica and Sardinia in May 2025, so bear those in mind when you’re compiling your wishlist of places to go pedalling!

Keep an eye on your inbox for the launch of our 2025 road cycling holidays … we can promise you won’t be disappointed!


Giro d’Italia fever!

With the Giro kicking off on 4th May, we’re celebrating cycling holidays in the Italian Dolomites! We love this spectacular mountain range so much that we run three tours there: our Italian Dolomites & Stelvio flexible pace tour, the Best of the Dolomites 4-day mini-break, and the Raid Dolomites 9-day challenge. Our Slovenia & Zoncolan flexi pace cycling tour also sneaks into northern Italy, allowing you to peddle in this spectacular part of the world with our peerless support on several tours.

As for the mountain stages of this year’s Giro, the pros battled it out on the Mortirolo, Foscagno, Eira, Stelvio, Sella, and Pordoi, all of which feature on one or more of our fully supported Dolomites cycling holidays.

Cyclist descending mountain road with Dolomites backdrop on sunny day with Marmot Tours guided road cycling holidays in Italian Dolomites cycling Italian Alps
Been inspired? Experience the jaw-dropping beauty of the Italian Dolomites with us

Still on an Italian theme, the June issue (no.152) of Cyclist magazine featured the Passo Gardena as its Classic Climb of the month. You can tick off this epic climb yourself on all three of our Italian cycling tours. Considered to be the toughest of the Sella Ronda quartet (Passo Pordoi, Sella, and Campolongo being its bedfellows), it’s a Giro classic, having featured 18 times since its introduction in 1949.

Just as this newsletter is about to be published, issue no.153 has landed on our doormat, and sings the praises of the San Bernadino pass and Monte Grappa – other Marmot favourites – there’s a lot of love for cycling in Italy right now …

Watch this space for a possible new itinerary in the pipeline!

Feeling inspired? Our 2024 trips are almost completely sold out but if you’d like to know more, or be added to a waiting list, head over to the webpage of the tour you’re interested in and drop us an enquiry. We can put you on the list for 2025 and by being a subscriber to our newsletter, you’ll be first to know when our new guaranteed departures are launched.


Shout out to those of you who made it to the end! You’re now up to date with all our latest spring news! If you’ve got any queries about our full support, guided road cycling holidays in the best spots in Europe, just reach out by email or phone at +44(0)1373 830409. Until next time, stay fit and well, and happy cycling!