El Camino Road

El Camino: Ride to Santiago is an unsupported ultracycling adventure that follows the spirit of the historic Way of Saint James pilgrimage route, covering approximately 720 kilometers from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela. The Road edition stays entirely on paved surfaces, crossing the Spanish regions of Navarra, La Rioja, and Castilla y León before finishing in Galicia. Riders have 85 hours to complete the route, navigating with the help of yellow arrows that have marked the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail for over a thousand years — a route first promoted as an official pilgrimage corridor by the Navarrese King Sancho III in the 11th century. The event includes live online tracking and is run in a fully self-supported, unsupported format, with riders carrying everything they need.

The Camino is one of the most historically and culturally significant routes in Europe, and El Camino Road gives ultra-cyclists the chance to experience it in a condensed, intense format that contrasts with the traditional multi-week walking pilgrimage. Along the way, riders pass through small villages, ancient towns, and rural landscapes still shaped by centuries of pilgrim traffic, with the route designed to be respectful of walking pilgrims who continue to use the same paths. Organized by Tarmacways, the event also offers a parallel gravel route covering similar terrain on a mix of paths and tarmac.