Austria’s most famous mountain road. 48 kilometres, 36 hairpins, and at the top you stand at 2,504 metres with a direct view of the Großglockner, the country’s highest peak. No other Alpine pass combines this much infrastructure with this much raw wilderness. The Route The classic road bike ascent starts in Bruck an der Großglocknerstraße…
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At kilometre 12, the tarmac ends. Just like that. Mid-climb, the road turns to gravel. 7 kilometres of sterrato to the summit. This is Colle delle Finestre. The pass that flips the Giro d’Italia upside down every single time. The Route From Susa (Piedmont) it’s 18.5 km with 1,693 metres of elevation gain. The first…
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The Giau is the Dolomites pass that makes all others look ordinary. Not because it’s the hardest. But because in the final kilometres, a panorama opens up that you won’t forget. Civetta, Marmolada, Pelmo, all at once. The route From Pocol above Cortina d’Ampezzo it’s 10.7 km with 780 metres of elevation. 7.3% average, maximum…
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22% gradient. On tarmac. In the professional peloton. Monte Zoncolan in Friuli isn’t a normal climb. It’s the limit of what’s rideable on a road bike. The Route Two sides, two completely different experiences. The east side from Ovaro is the brutal one: 10.1 km, 1,210 metres of elevation, 12% average. That alone sounds tough.…
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2,642 metres. One of the highest paved passes in the Alps. The Galibier separates the Maurienne Valley from the Briançonnais and has been a Tour de France staple for over 100 years. At the top stands a monument to Henri Desgrange, the man who invented the Tour. You couldn’t script it better. The Route The…
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48 hairpins, 2,757 metres at the top, Italy’s highest paved alpine pass. The Stelvio isn’t a climb. It’s a life’s work on a road bike. The Route Three approaches, three completely different experiences. From Prad am Stilfserjoch (South Tyrol) it’s 24.3 km with 1,808 metres of elevation gain. 7.4% average, 12% maximum. The famous 48…
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21 hairpins. Numbered backwards. Each one carries the name of a Tour stage winner. Riding Alpe d’Huez means riding through cycling history. The Route The climb starts in Bourg-d’Oisans at 720 metres. 13.8 kilometres, 1,090 metres of elevation gain, 8.1% average gradient. The first hairpins hit the hardest: between turns 21 and 16, the gradient…
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Mont Ventoux. The Giant of Provence. 1,909 metres above the lavender fields, the final third completely barren — white limestone, blazing sun, zero shade. Few climbs command this much respect. Three roads lead to the summit. The classic from Bédoin (21.5 km, 7.5% average), the tough one from Malaucène (21.2 km, 7.2%), and the “easy”…
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Cap de Formentor is one of the most iconic cycling routes on Mallorca. The road stretches 7.3 kilometres from Pollença to the lighthouse at the island’s northeastern tip. The peninsula was historically only accessible by boat until the road was constructed in the 1930s. Furthermore, Cap de Formentor holds a special place in Mallorcan cycling…
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Sa Calobra cycling is considered one of the most iconic experiences in all of European road cycling. The climb runs 10.1 kilometres from the coastal village of Sa Calobra up to Escorca at 708 metres altitude. Engineer Antonio Paretti designed the road in the 1930s, and it has since become a bucket-list destination for cyclists…
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