The spring classics are over, the grand tours are coming, and this is Giulio Ciccone amid the madness of the Mortirolo during the Giro d’Italia 2019. He’s wearing the king of the mountains jersey, the maglia azzura, a title he won with almost twice the points of the next rider. He won this stage too.
The Mortirolo was with us in 2025 on stage 17, half way through a six-day Giro d’Italia climb-fest in the final week. Mortirolo is an incredible climb that demands massive respect.
There used to be a sign at the foot of Mortirolo warning that the climb is dangerous, and motorists should give it a miss. It’s a pass connecting Valtellina with Val Camonica, and is called the Passo di Foppa on maps, but the Giro d’Italia calls it Mortirolo, and so do local signposts. There are three ways up, but as far as we know the Giro always climbs from Mazzo di Valtellina, the hardest.
It’s devastatingly steep. A stretch of 11.6 percent comes quickly and preludes the frightening mid-section. From kilometre 3 at San Mate to kilometre 9 the average gradient is almost 13 percent, with four sections of back-breaking 18 percent, giving an incredible height gain of 800 metres in six kilometres.
The road writhes and twists upwards, searching for easier lines in what is a rock face. In high summer it’s oppressive. Dense trees remove any sense of location, creating a dark tunnel, the original pain cave - just rider, bike and gradient. Only the best can think about racing up this slope, for the rest it’s just torment. No wonder great climbers love Mortirolo.
This is where Marco Pantani made his name, and after his death he was honoured here with a Cima Pantani prize. Then the Association of Italian Professional Racers, and Pantani’s long-time sponsor Bianchi, commissioned a monument to be placed on one of the toughest corners.
The monument comes one kilometre before the trees thin and the gradient eases. It’s still 7 to 9 percent, and there are a couple of short steeper stretches, but after what’s gone before, the final three kilometres feel flat. There’s time to look around, and incredible views across the valley to the Bernina Alps that await you.
Photo Credit - SWpics
