Mountain that's home to ghosts

At 4,092 meters, the stunning St. Johns Peak is only three meters shorter than Mount Kinabalu's true summit, Low's Peak. It was named after Spencer St John, the former British Counsel in Brunei who joined the second and third documented climbs of Mount Kinabalu in April and July of 1858.

Day one of the hike to the summit of Mount Kinabalu is a slow and steady five-hour ascent through the lower mountain rainforest along six kilometers of reinforced carved steps.

The canopies of Mount Kinabalu National Park are among the most biologically diverse places on earth, home to 800 species of orchids and 600 fern species -- around 50 of which are endemic.

On day two, trekkers rise at 2 a.m. for a 3 a.m. start. The final 2.7 kilometers takes two to four hours to complete in the dark. Roped supports are anchored into the cliff's steepest positions to assist trekkers.

The sun rising over Sabah as seen from the summit at Low's Peak, named after former British Colonial Administrator Hugh Low, who made the first documented ascent of Mount Kinabalu's summit plateau in 1851.

The sunrise changes throughout the morning. Here, it's illuminated in steaks over the Crocker Range, a mountainous spine with an average height of 1,800 meters that divides the west and east coasts of Sabah.

By 9 a.m., clouds begin to ascend over the summit plateau. Rain follows shortly after.

The aim of the 2 a.m. wake-up call is to make it to Low's Peak for sunrise. These trekkers, spotted post summit, didn't succeed.

Porters earn only 128 Malaysian Ringgit ($40) for two-days' work on Mount Kinabalu. Nevertheless, the positions are highly coveted among subsistence farmers living at the foothills of the mountains.

Nepenthes villosa, the largest and most beautiful of 13 species of carnivorous pitcher plants, found at Mount Kinabalu National Park.

• UNESCO-listed Mount Kinabalu is one of Malaysian Borneo's most popular tourist attractions


• Mount Kinabalu climbers are required by law to have a guide and hiking permit


• Dry season of March to August are the best months to climb

(CNN) -- Before Christianity and Islam became the dominant religions of the island of Borneo, Animist beliefs dictated that when a person died, their spirit rose to the peak of Mount Kinabalu.

At 4,095 meters above sea level, it's the highest mountain in Southeast Asia.

Today, UNESCO-listed Mount Kinabalu National Park is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state of Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, with visitors forced to book two to three months in advance to secure one of 196 daily allocated hiking permits.

Though Sabah is developing at pace, villagers living at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu continue to perform Animist rituals to appease spirits residing at the cloud-ringed peak so no harm comes to those who scale it.

MORE: Malaysian Borneo: Can you top this for adventure?

The above images were taken on the rock-strewn 8.7-kilometer trail to the summit with Evan Conrad, a guide with Amazing Borneo Tours who first climbed Mount Kinabalu 20 years ago.

Porters earn 128 Malaysian Ringgit (US$40) for two days' work on Mount Kinabalu.

"I've climbed the mountains maybe 100 times," Conrad said.

"But I never get bored of it. Every time I see something new that excites me, and the view at sunrise is never, ever the same."

More information is available from the Mount Kinabalu Official Climb & Booking Information Centre, which says March to August are the best months to visit as it's the dry season.

There are multiple options for those wanting to hit the summit, ranging from from one-day to two-night climbs.

The pros recommend beginners do the three-day, two-night option. It allows them to acclimatize to the altitude. Only the super fit should try to get to the summit in a day.

Guides and permits are required by law.

MORE: 10 best islands for a Malaysia holiday

Getting there

From Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, a number of flights to Sabah capital Kota Kinabalu are available. The flight time is about two and a half hours. The drive from Kota Kinabalu to Mount Kinabalu takes about two hours.

CNN Travel's series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However, CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy .

Ian Lloyd Neubauer is a Sydney-based freelance journalist specializing in adventure travel. He has reported extensively across East Asia and the South Pacific and is the author of two travel novels, Getafix (2004) and Maquis (2006).

10 places to relive Beatlemania

The cast of the London stage show "Backbeat" recreated the "Abbey Road" cover. So can you.

• From India to the Bahamas, Beatles pilgrimages remain popular


• At the Amsterdam Hilton you can stay in John and Yoko's "bed-in" room


• Chelyabinsk, Russia, changed the name of a street from Lenin to Lennon


• Strawberry Fields in New York's Central Park is a poignant spot for Beatles fans

(CNN) -- Even if you're a real nowhere man living under the sea in an octopus's garden, you probably already know that 50 years ago (February 9, 1964, to be exact) the Beatles kicked off Beatlemania in the United States with their first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

The Fab Four's subsequent globetrotting blazed a trail that, half a century later, remains worth following.

Particularly if you can avoid an overload of gratuitous Beatles song titles along the way.

Here are some of the world's best places to relive the original magical mystery tour.

1. Liverpool, England

The city where it all started has traded heavily on the Beatles as part of efforts to transform itself from a declining industrial seaport into a tourism and cultural destination.

Mercifully it works.

Obvious attractions include the well-executed Beatles Story (Britannia Vaults, Kings Dock Street, +44 151 709 1963); the reconstructed Cavern Club (10 Mathew St., +44 151 236 9091); and tours that hit childhood homes and lyricized locations such as Penny Lane.

These are balanced by non-Beatles attractions.

The city has impressive Anglican and Catholic cathedrals, the iconic ferry across the River Mersey, the Tate and Walker art galleries and the wonderful (and free) waterfront Museum of Liverpool.

The latter of these pays homage to the city's maritime heritage and a musical legacy that goes far beyond John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Hamburg: where the Fab Four learned to grind out tunes.

2. Hamburg, Germany

Lured by the prospect of regular paychecks, the embryonic Beatles packed their guitar cases for Hamburg in 1960.

Here they refined their act and lineup during several seasons of relentless gigging in front of indifferent crowds in grimy nightclubs.

Fans can take tours or simply explore Reeperbahn, a seedy-in-places district of brothels and nightspots where the band played several venues during their time here.

The Kaiserkeller (36 Grosse Freiheit, +49 40 317 778) is among the most famous.

MORE: i(ce)-Tunes: Sweden's incredible ice orchestra

Modern Hamburg is a vibrant source of new, mainly electronic, music and nightlife.

Like Liverpool, it has a distinctive church, the baroque St. Michaelis (Englische Planke 1, +49 40 376 780) and a museum exploring the city's maritime past (Peter Tamm Sen. Stiftung Kaispeicher B Koreastrasse 1, +49 40 30 092 300).

3. Rishikesh, India

By 1966 the Beatles were experimenting -- musically and pharmaceutically.

Their altered outlook took them to Rishikesh, in northeast India's Himalayan foothills, to attend the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an Indian guru who developed and taught transcendental meditation.

These days the ashram, which once overlooked the Ganges, is closed and is slowly being reclaimed by vegetation.

But Rishikesh, an important Hindu center, remains open for business -- billing itself as India's leading destination for yoga and adventure sports, although probably not at the same time.

Proximity to Delhi makes it a good escape from the Indian capital for some whitewater rafting or a stay at one of its many yoga ashrams (among them Parmath Niketen , +91 135 243 4301).

Not a precisely Beatles experience, but in the world of transcendental meditation, close is sometimes all you get.

You can't go into the studio, but you can leave your mark.

4. London

The Beatles lived and worked at various venues in the English capital (yes, there are tours), but few locations have as much of a connection with the band as Abbey Road Studios (3 Abbey Road, near St. John's Wood tube station).

The Fab Four recorded several albums here, including 1969's "Abbey Road," which features a hirsute Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr striding over the nearby pedestrian crossing.

READ: World music -- It's Okinawa's turn

There's no public access to the studios, which still host top music acts.

But that hasn't stopped thousands of visitors scrawling their names on the building's boundary wall or halting traffic to recreate the famous crossing image.

As a bonus, McCartney still lives nearby, and sightings aren't unknown.

5. Amsterdam

Newlyweds John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their 1969 honeymoon with a highly publicized "bed-in" at the Amsterdam Hilton (Appollolaan 138, +31 710 6000), where they invited the press into their room to promote "bed peace" and "hair peace."

The room is now known as the "John and Yoko suite" and can be reserved by guests.

The couple wound up in the Dutch capital after their own mini-tour of Europe.

They'd tried to marry on a ferry across the English Channel (P&O run a regular service, but still no weddings) before succeeding in Gibraltar -- a fact the British territory continues to celebrate thanks to the number of international weddings it now hosts.

6. Obertauren, Austria

After Amsterdam, John and Yoko zipped down to Vienna for another peace-based press conference, this time in the city's luxury Sacher hotel (Philharmonikerstrasse 4, +43 1 514 560) -- until then famous only for giving the world a preposterously rich chocolate cake.

This wasn't Austria's first brush with the Beatles.

In 1965, the band decamped to the charming central Austrian ski resort of Obertauern to film snow scenes for their movie "Help!"

The band stayed at the Hotel Eidelweiss, the modern incarnation (Römerstrasse 75, +43 6456 7245) of which avoids any mention of the Beatles on its website, although it does depict them in what appears to be the men's toilets.

MORE: Doh! 20 biggest travel mistakes

The show that launched a thousand screams: Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

7. New York

Lennon had wanted to take his bed-in to New York, but was prevented from setting foot in the United States at the time due to a previous conviction for cannabis possession.

He and the Beatles, however, paid several other significant visits to the city.

First there was the historic February 9, 1964, television appearance at the now-named Ed Sullivan Theater (1697 Broadway, +1 212 975 4755).

More history was made several days later when The Beatles became the first rock band ever to play Carnegie Hall (881 7th Ave., +1 212 247 7800).

MORE: 12 best travel songs of all time

The band returned to play New York the following August, but that trip was eclipsed a year later when they performed at Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows.

This is believed to be rock and pop music's first-ever stadium gig.

Shea was torn down in 2008 to provide parking space for the New York Mets' new Citi Field (123-01 Roosevelt Ave., +1 718 507 6387), but there are plenty other non-Beatles attractions nearby, particularly the space age relics of two World Fairs (Grand Central Parkway, +1 718 760 6565).

John Lennon, of course, later lived and was killed in New York outside his residence at the Dakota Apartments (corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West in Manhattan).

Along with the Dakota, the adjacent Strawberry Fields (near Central Park West between 71st and 74th Streets) is a 2.5-acre area of Central Park that pays homage to Lennon.

The Beatles enjoyed the Bahamas. Who doesn't?

8. The Bahamas

Another double-hit destination for Lennon, who flew here with Yoko on the next stage of his bed tour, but swiftly left after checking into the Sheraton hotel in Freeport (now unlisted), reportedly declaring: "We can't do a bloody bed-in here. Let's go to Canada."

More successful was Lennon's 1965 visit to the islands with the other Beatles, again to film scenes for "Help!"

READ: 11 places to go in 2014

The band stayed at the Balmoral Club, a hotel on Nassau's Cable Beach now renamed the Sandals Royal Bahamian (West Bay Street, Nassau, +1 242 327 6400).

They filmed scenes on Paradise Island, now home to the Atlantis resort (+1 888-877 7525), and Rose Island, an uninhabited private island popular for day trips and wedding parties.

9. Montreal

And so, at last, to John and Yoko's final bed-in venue: the Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal (900 Rene Levesque Blvd. W., +1 866 540 4483).

Here the couple commandeered four rooms and invited friends including LSD fan Timothy Leary and Beat poet Allen Ginsberg to join them recording "Give Peace a Chance."

According to the hotel's website, Lennon has since been followed to the Queen Elizabeth by other sometime peaceniks, including Nelson Mandela, U.S. president Jimmy Carter, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the Dalai Lama.

10. Chelyabinsk, Russia

OK, the Beatles never actually visited this tank-producing Russian city east of the Ural Mountains, but that didn't stop the citizens of Chelyabinsk taking the Fab Four to their hearts.

Even though few in the Soviet Union were able to buy or listen to Beatles songs at the height of the Cold War, many drew inspiration from a band that was later credited with hastening the demise of communist rule -- even if their classic "Back In the U.S.S.R." was more about girls than politics.

Post-Soviet Chelyabinsk has repaid the favor by changing the name of a street from Lenin to Lennon.

Lately, however, Chelyabinsk is obsessed with a new star -- or falling star, in the shape of the huge meteorite which smashed into the region last year.

Reports say the city hopes thousands of tourists will be attracted by this asteroid from -- sorry, it can't be helped -- "Across the Universe."

MORE: 20 most annoying things people do on planes

Barry Neild is a freelance journalist based in London.

Ecuador's Andean train rises again

In 2008, only 10% of Ecuador's train network was operational. The flagship of the railway's $280 million renaissance, Tren Crucero operates a new cross-Andean service

Tren Crucero's four luxury carriages were manufactured in Madrid.

Cattle ranching remains important in the Ecuadorian Andes. From the train, passengers can see traditional chagras (cowboys) at work.

Lagarteros, such as 75-year-old Alejandro Diaz-Lopez of Yaguachi, are balladeers that sing and play guitar for money. Diaz-Lopez welcomes Tren Crucero, singing the praises of President Rafael Correa for investing in the railways.

Tren Crucero navigates the Devil's Nose via a series of switchbacks, gaining an incredible 2,945 meters (9,662 feet) over just 56 kilometers (34 miles).

Feral horses roam the plains of Cotopaxi. Others work in the service of the chagras.

Along the route the town of Alausi is predominately inhabited by Quechua indigenous people.

The Quechua in the Andean community of Guamote existed laregly as low-paid labor on large estates until the 1960s. Many now sell handmade crafts to visitors.

Llamas are seen throughout the Tren Crucero route.

Seen from Tren Crucero, active Cotopaxi is thought to be overdue for an eruption. It's last eruption destroyed the town of Latacunga in 1904.

• By 2008 only 10% of Ecuador's train lines were operational


• Ecuadorean government has spent $280 million revamping national railway network


• Its flagship Tren Crucero follows a 453-kilometer line along Andean spine


• Highlight is the Avenue of Volcanoes

(CNN) -- A blast from the steam whistle on a cherry-red locomotive sends a gathering of locals on a platform scuttling with delight in the town of Durán, Ecuador.

It's a sound many in this town on the tropical Pacific plain haven't heard in years.

Some never have.

A restored, century-old steam locomotive grinds slowly out from its rail shed.

Vapor from its smokestack hangs in the humid air surrounding Durán Station.

In a few days, that vapor will crystallize in the freezing temperatures of the Ecuadorian Andes as the throwback Tren Crucero threads its way past giant snow-capped peaks into the realm of condors, volcanoes and Andean legend.

MORE: Golden chains -- 20 best franchises for travelers

Great steam train revived

Trains in Ecuador have been virtually moribund since the late 1990s.

"Strong winter rains of El Niño in 1982 destroyed a stretch of the railroad between Huigra and Bucay," says Slav Ivanov of Ferrocariles del Ecuador, the train's operators. "Further damage occurred during El Niño floods during the 1990s."

‪By 2008, only about 10% of the Ecuadorian train network was operational.

Since then, the Ecuadorean government has spent some $280 million revamping the national railway. ‬

Tren Crucero's four luxury carriages were manufactured in Madrid and hold 54 passengers in total.

The flagship of the railway's renaissance is Tren Crucero, a revamped luxury steam train operating a new cross-Andean service between Guayaquil and the capital of Quito (at 2,849 meters the highest capital city in the world).

Tren Crucero -- literally "cruise train" -- follows a 453-kilometer (282 mile) narrow-gauge line originally constructed between 1897 and 1908 along Ecuador's Andean spine.

MORE: 10 epic train journeys around the world

The railway was built to connect Ecuador's two major cities: Quito in the Andes and Guayaquil along the Pacific.

Now as then, it's one of the most thrilling railway journeys in the world.

Today's luxurious four-day, three-night journey targets foreign tourists and affluent Ecuadorians.

Tickets cost $1,200 for adults ($952 for children) and include all hotels and excursions en route.

The train's newly purchased carriages, built in Madrid, are pulled by restored steam locomotives.

The oldest dates to 1900 and was engineered by American manufacturer Baldwin of Pennsylvania.

One of the locomotive's engineers is 52-year-old Edgar Garces, a 28-year employee with Ecuador's national railway company.

"I didn't think I'd see the cross-Andean train running again in my lifetime," he says.

Few others did.

MORE: 15 biggest souvenir-buying no-no's

Balladeer Alejandro Diaz-Lopez welcomes Tren Crucero passengers with song.

Tourism revamps trains, communities

Ecuador's government wants Tren Crucero to boost economically depressed communities along its route through tourism.

From Guayaquil into the Guayas coastal plain, abandoned settlements such as Casiguana testify to the economic malaise.

This former orange-growing village was deserted when the railway's demise severed its trade link to Guayaquil.

Further up the line, in Yaguachi, 75-year-old Alejandro Diaz-Lopez waits track-side for Tren Crucero, plucking his guitar and singing ballads about the train.

"I sing a song for the train; for the president; for the tourists who now bring our community money," he says.

MORE: Coolest hotel perks across Latin America

Tren Crucero's most exhilarating section is a series of precipitous switchbacks that enable the train to ascend 2,945 meters (9,662 feet) in just 56 kilometers (34 miles) around a mountainside called the Devil's Nose.

By 1908, this hazardous section had taken four years to build and contributed to more than 4,000 deaths among workers, including 2,730 Jamaican laborers.

At Alausi, a town of largely Quechua indigenous inhabitants, 30-year-old Rosita Logrono sells beautiful hand-knitted llama wool garments at the station's newly created souvenir bazaar.

"Before the railway returned I only had part-time work and couldn't send my children to school," she says. "Since the trains returned life is much better."

Llamas are a common sight along the route.

Avenue of the Volcanoes is highlight

The journey to Quito passes 10 volcanoes along the so-called Avenue of Volcanoes.

The highest point (3,609 meters/11,480 feet) comes on day three at Urbina, where a new visitor's center has been built.

Here, the last iceman of Chimborazo greets passengers.

Balthasar Uscha, 69, has cut ice from Chimborazo volcano's flanks for 50 years; at 6,310 meters (20,100 feet) Chimborazo is Ecuador's highest mountain.

Taking into account the planet's equatorial bulge, Chimborazo's summit is further from the Earth's core than Everest.

MORE: End of the road for Cuba's classic cars?

Uscha's glacial ice once chilled the drinks of coastal dwellers.

But refrigeration has put the ice cutters out of business.

He says he represents the last survivor of his profession.

Last stop, but not the end of the line

Tren Crucero passengers disembark each night and stay in local hotels.

The final night's accommodation is La Cienaga, a glorious Spanish hacienda built 1695.

The great naturalist, Alexander von Humboldt, who stayed here 1802, coined the term "Avenue of Volcanoes."

The hacienda is located within view of snow-capped Cotopaxi; at 5,879 meters (19,300 feet), it's one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.

The final day begins at Latacunga.

The city has been destroyed on three occasions by eruptions from Cotopaxi, which historically erupts about every century.

Now overdue, the last eruption to destroy Latacunga was in 1904.

Thoughts of such calamities, however, are far away.

As the train rumbles into its last stop at Quito, only the bright sun of restoration shines on the rails and the faces of disembarking passengers, thrilled to have completed one of the great -- and largely undiscovered -- journeys in the world.

MORE: Adorable kid, exotic Bolivia star in magical "travel" video

The 280-mile journey from Quito to Guayaquil takes four days and three nights (with stops and hotels included), crosses Ecuador's Andes and passes from moorlands through cloud forests to tropical coastal landscapes; $1,270 adults, $952 children.

For more information, schedules and tickets on Tren Crucero, visit Ecuador by Train .

But his mental health is now better, doctor says

Jose Salvador Alvarenga attends a news conference in Majuro, Marshall Islands, on Thursday, February 6. Alvarenga, who is from El Salvador, said he spent 13 months lost in the Pacific Ocean, floating from Mexico to the Marshall Islands, which is about halfway between Hawaii and Australia.

Alvarenga is helped up the stairs as he walks to the news conference in Majuro. He returned to a hospital to be intravenously fed, said a top Mexican trade official.

A photo obtained on February 6 shows Alvarenga's boat shortly after his January 30 arrival on Ebon Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Alvarenga says that in December 2012, he and another man set off on a fishing trip from the port of Paredon Viejo, Mexico. He said they were blown off course by winds and then got caught in a storm, losing the use of their engines.

Alvarenga waves as he walks with the help of a nurse in Majuro on Monday, February 3. Alvarenga said his companion died of starvation because he refused to eat raw birds and turtles.

A photograph of a younger Alvarenga, shared by his father, Jose Ricardo Orellana.

• NEW: Jose Salvador Alvarenga has been moved to an undisclosed location


• Alvarenga says he was lost at sea for 13 months


• He has been in and out of the hospital since being found


• A doctor says that Alvarenga is now ready to travel

Majuro, Marshall Islands (CNN) -- The mysterious castaway who turned up in the Marshall Islands after saying he spent 13 months at sea has been moved to an undisclosed location to avoid the media, sources familiar with his care told CNN on Saturday.

Security around Jose Salvador Alvarenga has tightened since he came ashore last week more than 6,600 miles from where he says he started; a crush of media has descended on the tiny island nation.

Alvarenga, a Salvadoran who lived and worked in Mexico, was moved overnight from the Marshall Islands Resort Hotel in Majuro, the sources said.

Security continues to guard the room where Alvarenga was staying at the resort, giving the impression he is still there, according to the sources.

Five questions: What is going on?

His return journey to El Salvador this week was postponed because of his health, but Dr. Kennar Briand, chief of staff at Majuro Hospital in the Marshall Islands, says Alvarenga is ready to travel.

The castaway will have another medical checkup on Monday to see whether he is fit to return home, Briand said.

Alvarenga's mental health appears to have improved, too, the doctor said.

"He was a bit 'off,' maybe it's due to him being in the open for so many months and not talking to people, but I think he is finally getting it back," Briand said.

Alvarenga was released from the hospital in Majuro on Friday, one day after being readmitted because of declining health.

Alvarenga's claims have garnered widespread skepticism about how he could survive for 13 months adrift in the Pacific. But from what officials can tell, they have no reason to doubt him.

Panama teen was adrift at sea for 26 days

CNN's Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.

Valencia bucks national trend as car sales fall

NEW car registrations fell in January by 13.8 per cent in the Valencia region compared to the same month in 2013, but rose in the Murcia region.

According to the Automobile Manufacturers Associations (Anfac) and car organisations Ganvam and Faconauto, the industry nationally saw an increase for the fifth consecutive month.

The associations say the announcement by the Government of the approval of the PIVE 5 Plan will help boost car sales throughout the year and is expected to drive the market above 800,000 vehicle sales in 2014.

Ganvam president, Juan Antonio Sánchez Torres, said that without the approval of PIVE 5, nationally, the figures “would probably would have ended the month in negative.”

Valencia region saw the largest drop in the number of car sales, followed by Navarra which saw a fall of 3.6 per cent in sales last month compared to January 2013. Murcia, at the opposite end of the spectrum, saw sales increase by 10 per cent, above the national average.

Princess Cristina has day in court

Princess Cristina was questioned in court yesterday for nearly seven hours; it is the first time a direct member of the Spanish royal family has been summoned.

Her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, has been accused of tax fraud and money laundering; the princess was questioned regarding her knowledge of the alleged crimes.

Arriving at the court in a plain unobtrusive car, Princess Cristina was taken to the back door of the Court, avoiding the long 40 metre walk to the main entrance. She smiled at the waiting camera crews as she entered the court building. A crowd of 200 police officers and 400 hundred journalists were waiting outside the court building.

Cristina was asked about personal expenses which had been charged to a company credit card. Allegations have been made that the company, Aizoon, may have covered up money laundering activities of up to €6 million. The money is believed to have been acquired via non-profit organisation Noos, which is run by Urdangarin and a business partner, Diego Torres, who face potential charges of tax evasion, embezzlement and falsification of documents. Princess Cristina is not being charged in relation to the Noos case.

It has been alleged that expenses charged to Aizoon include renovation of their home in Barcelona, a cocktail party and dancing classes.

The princess stated in court that she trusts her husband and has faith in him. She said was not aware of any irregularities in their finances. She had spent days in Barcelona preparing for the appearance; answering “I don’t know” or “I can’t remember” to many of the questions.

Sir Bradley Wiggins pedals into Mallorca

BRITISH superstar cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins is getting ready for the 23^rd Iberostar Challenge cycling competition to start on Sunday in Mallorca.

The 2012 Tour de France cycling race winner, and multi Olympics gold medal winner, was spotted training on the Bay of Pollensa with the Sky Team, to which he has belonged since 2010.

The team has been making the final preparations to the competition from their established base in Alcudia.

The Iberostar Challenge marks the start of the European season for the team, which is now entering its fifth season on the road.

Also known as the Vuelta a Mallorca, the cycling competition has been held in early February in Mallorca for 12 years.

It consists on a series of one day bike races held in different towns in Mallorca, including Palma City, Deia or Ses Salines.

As riders are allowed not to participate on certain days if they wish so, this competition is not classed as a multi day race competition by the International Cyclist Union (UCI).

But it is precisely this feature what makes it popular among teams, using it as an early season preparatory event.