Stage 1. Guadalupe/Herrera del Duque
98 kilometers. 2,160 meters of elevation gain.
The Cáceres town of Guadalupe has been a famous pilgrimage center since the late 13th century, when a local shepherd found the image of the Virgin hidden in a remote mountainous area of the Sierra de las Villuercas, building a hermitage for worship that gave rise to the site of La Puebla de Santa María de Guadalupe. The Order of Saint Jerome founded the Royal Monastery, and during the Middle Ages it was a notable sanctuary of popular devotion. It is the most important and outstanding monument in Guadalupe, with a beautiful Mudejar feel and a blend of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque elements. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1993. The old town of La Puebla has been declared a Historic-Artistic Site and features arcades, stone fountains, folk architecture, and medieval alleyways in the old Jewish quarter. The cycle tour begins in the lively Plaza de Santa María along Calle Sevilla, passes through the Arco de Sevilla, which was one of the gates in the old wall protecting the monastery, continues past the Fuente de los Tres Chorros, one of the town's 17 fountains, and leaves Guadalupe along a cobbled path with slate slabs that requires some skill with the brakes due to the steep slope. On the outskirts, the first milestones of the Villuercas Nature Trail GR-116 appear.
The path crosses the road at the rustic Angorrilla bridge and continues through the forest canyon of the Guadalupejo River. The pace is slow at first; the trail doesn't allow for fast pedaling, and the jungle of vegetation captivates the atmosphere. The path passes over the imposing viaduct of the old railway and finally enters the dirt tracks that climb towards the Villuercas mountains, descending back to the Guadalupejo riverbed, where there is a pedestrian bridge to cross the ford when floodwaters make it difficult to cross the river. Alía is the first village on the route, a good place to check your gear and bike after the rough ride before entering the toughest section of the stage, over the Puerto de San Vicente. The crossing of the Guadarranque Valley is a quintessential landscape in the unique geological realm of Las Villuercas, but on a bicycle, it's a significant challenge. At the river footbridges, a furious climb begins to the Manzano pass. The dirt surface of the Nature Trail crosses the road, descends through gravel forks to a stream, and continues along steep slopes to the Puerto de San Vicente pass. The easy option is to climb along the shoulder of the road and, in the village, rejoin the Las Villuercas Nature Trail to the Santa Quiteria station, the start/finish of the Vía Verde de la Jara. In the following section, there are no specific cycling route signs; it is essential to follow the track. The route runs along the foothills of the Altamira mountain range and the Rincón del Torozo Microreserve through holm oak forests, crosses the mountain range via Puerto del Rey, and descends to the Cíjara reservoir dam, one of the large artificial lakes on the middle course of the Guadiana River and borders Cáceres and Badajoz.