Italy, this one's for you. We're with you. We're with you in spirit
I love italy. I love riding my bike there. I love the people. I love the food.
Oh, I miss it and it's hard not to be there and to be watching the racing in Italy at the moment with the Giro
Which was about to start soon... But that shouldn't stop us dreaming. And in the spirit of armchair travel,
I thought I'd put a list together the top 10 Italian climbs
Now GCN Italia also did a list
And I'm going to see if I can topple them topple the home favorites
I've been looking at last year's Giro d'Italia road book for some inspiration. There was
Many climbs in this edition as I remember
and I've come outside to try and
recreate some Italian al fresco dining proving rather blustery, but a bit more blustery than I remember in Italy but
we march on
And I would note my pronunciation in this is definitely not going to be as good as GCN Italia
That's not up for any sort of
Vote or anything. I'm just saying that from the beginning.
First up on the list the Colle Dell'Agnello
Now this is the only climb to feature on both lists GCN Italia chose this one as well
So i'm going to start with it and then we'll diverge because to be honest
This is my favorite climb of all time. Just it trumps everything in my opinion
It's a real high mountain pass it goes up to
2744 meters so it's really one of the highest ones in the Alps
And it goes from France into Italy into into France. Whichever you prefer
And it's magical on both sides. I mean magical, it really blew me away when I rode it back in 2018
It's only featured in the Giro D'Italia twice. It's also featured in the Tour de France twice as well.
Although this is a relatively small number to be honest for such a big mountain pass
So it's kind of relatively unused compared to the other big mountain stalwarts
I rode it with my friend Larry Warbass and to be honest ever since I have raved about it.
So when you do get a chance
Definitely check this one out and you will not be disappointed. So for that reason
Definitely going on my top 10 list
The Poggio! How can you leave the Poggio off a top 10 Italian climb list what's going on GCN Italia?
But anyway, the Poggio deserves to be on the list. It's part of possibly the greatest monument of all time, Milan San Remo.
Featuring in the finale, the Poggio comes after nearly 300 kilometers of racing. So whilst it's relatively short
You definitely feel it in the legs. With the Mediterranean sea as a backdrop
And also the fast furious descent down into San Remo with many switching impressive hairpins
It's a climb that is up there with the greats.
A cheeky little tip as well because I used to ride this a lot when I was based in Nice
It's to turn right at the top
and you go into some much longer climbs and quite possibly some of the best roads in the Liguria region of Italy so
Bear that one in mind and also there's quite a nice little wine shop at the top too, but I didn't tell you.
Right next up on the list the Colle del Nivolet now it featured for the first time in the Giro d'Italia last year
Which is rather surprising
because it's one of the real high mountain climbs in the alps. It goes to
2641 metres to a dead end it goes to a water dam which feeds the city of Turin.
But for that reason it kind of makes the climb all the more epic. Once you get to the top you really are
just purely in nature in the middle of nowhere with a mountain surrounding you and it is
breathtaking I simply can't describe how amazing the view is from the top.
When I raced up in the Giro, it was, well, an experience. I was dropped at the start of the stage
And we got onto the climb at the very end of the stage had a brutal day
Probably my hardest moments of the Giro and on the first few hairpins
They probably are the steepest of the whole climb and I remember thinking if it's this gradient for this amount of time to that altitude
That's it. I'm done, I'm going home
I'm going to have dinner in the team car on the way to the airport and I'll see my teammates in a month's time
But it does level off in the middle
It gets a little bit easier before kicking at the end and I managed to get through it and I was rewarded with those breathtaking
views
It's also got a lot of history to it
The Italian job was filmed on the Colle del Nivolet
Remember those mountain descents when they get away with the loot of 1960s classic film well
That was filmed on the Colle del Nivolet!
Interesting fact for you and GCN were also lucky enough to visit last year and ride the climb so
I think when this is all over I'd love to get back to it and I recommend that you do too. It's a fantastic
fantastic climb
Moving towards Lake Como now and the famous Madonna del Ghisallo which features in the Giro de Lombardia,
the race of the falling leaves.
Now the Madonna del Ghisallo was declared the patroness of cyclists by Pope Pius XII, and at the top of this climb
There's a small shrine to la madonna and also a museum dedicated to all cyclists
There's also an eternal flame which burns for any cyclist who has passed away including the late great Fabio Casatelli
Who was a local to the region.
It's a really humbling experience and a beautiful beautiful
shrine. The climb itself is a gradual gradient of 5.2 percent and you always have the beautiful backdrop of Lake Como
it really is a climb i'd recommend checking out and
It has to be on a top 10 italian list. It's just a must must do in my opinion.
This climb is something special the Passo di San Boldo.
And before last year I'd never heard of it
Until I found myself racing up it in the Giro d'Italia and I looked ahead of me and saw the peloton in five places,
And I couldn't quite figure out what was going on
But basically this climb at the top is really rather impressive
It's a feat of engineering if you ask me. The hairpins are all found in tunnels
And you have these bridges crisscrossing between the hairpins so you get this sort of
Ladder sort of effect up the mountain
But you can't actually see the hairpins, you see roads going crisscross crisscross crisscross like that
And the reason for this is that in 1918
It was built as a supply route by the Austrian Hungarian army in world war one
And the gradient couldn't exceed 12 percent as they had to get the heavy artillery vehicles down the mountain down the supply route
So i'm guessing that is why there's so many hairpins at the top
It's a 17 kilometer route between the towns of Tavina and Tritiana. I hope I got that right and the climb tops out at
710 meters.
It really is a breathtaking climb and to be honest i'm surprised GCN Italia missed it off the list. It's a classic classic
Italian climb.
So I think I deserve a few bonus points actually for getting on the list there.
Right another short climb to be added to the list
so
Please don't give me any grief in the comments because this climb is no less spectacular in my opinion than even the biggest
of mountain passes
It's only 1.8 kilometers long, but it's an average gradient of
10.8 percent now that's the average gradient I'm talking. There's some steep steep ramps on this one.
It's the Basilica San Luca and it features heavily in the Giro de Amelia, the Italian one day
classic, and it was also the scene of the prologue of last year's Giro d'Italia.
It's found in Bologna and a beautiful beautiful city in itself. The climb winds its way up to the sanctuary of San
Luca, which is the symbol of Bologna
It's a climb which is really steeped in history. There's a portico running up alongside the climb which was built in
1674 and is a UNESCO world heritage site.
I think for this reason the Basilica San Luca deserves a place on the list
It's a climb steeped in gradient and steeped in cycling history. The Basilica San Luca.
Also a little tip bit about the Basilica San Luca is that it's found on Zwift! So
If any of you are busy out on Zwift at the moment, you can check out the Basilica San Luca!
Back into the Italian high
mountain passes now and I think that's the thing with Italy you're just spoilt for choice really with beautiful climbs and beautiful mountain passes
that you can just keep reeling them off. Anyway, now we're on to the Passo Giau
This one is another lung buster topping out at
2236 metres.
And really this one is a rewarding climb. Once you get to the top you're into a quite open countryside
And from the road you can really clearly see the Dolomites in all their glory.
It's one that you definitely need to check out
And for this reason it is definitely going on the list and also on the bucket list of riding.
You need to check this one out no matter where you're going. It's a it's a beautiful beautiful climb
Another high mountain climb this time crossing from Italy into France and the Alps Maritime
The main road cuts through the mountains using one massive tunnel. So definitely don't ride that, but the old road cuts up
spectacularly on the French side with an incredible amount of
hairpins. On the Italian side the town of Panice Soprana welcomes you to one
amazing view over the Alps.
Tende is 1870 meters high and connects Nice with Cuneo in Italy. Whilst I would say the French side is my favorite,
the descent and climb on the Italian side is equally stunning.
It's also the gateway to a huge amount of gravel high roads for your interest.
I can't believe that GCN Italia left this one off the list because to be honest
It's my favorite my favourite on the whole top ten
Passo Rolle - it is a breathtaking climb
1980 meters high found in the Trentino region of Italy. You're talking about 20 kilometers of climbing if you take it from the side of
Predazzo or around 40 kilometers in climbing if you go from the other side, from Zavena.
Now both sides have a gradual gradient of around five percent,
So if you want to you can take this at your own pace and really take the climb in and enjoy it.
Now this climb really does hold a special place in my heart because it was the final climb of last year's Giro
d'Italia, when the groupetter was really on edge and not sure if they'd make the time cut. Once we crested this climb,
we knew we were going to be safe. We could descend and just enjoy the rest of the race take it all in
And I just remember flying down this climb. It's a real fast one
actually, potentially my favorite descent in all the cycling you have real free-flowing corners and wide hairpins that you can really lean into,
and to be honest, it was one of the most special moments I've ever had in cycling.
So definitely for me personally, this climb is a firm favorite on the list and
it's a climb I'll, never forget. So if you ever want to check it out,
do not hesitate. Passo Rolle.
Right another small climb to add to the list: the Colle del Telegrafo.
Found near the city of La Spezia in the Cinque Terre National Park. Now
It's another small climb on the list, but I think these small climbs of Italy - they're deserving additions to the list.
They're just beautiful climbs, just as beautiful as the high mountain passes
But they also deserve our love. Colle del Telegrafo has only featured in the Giro d'Italia one time in 2015,
and it shouldn't be it shouldn't be ignored. It's just stunning.
Once you get to the top of this one, you're rewarded with views of the Cinque Terre National Park.
And I can't describe how beautiful it is.
The climb itself is only 4.2 kilometers long and gains
321 meters in altitude but it also has spikes in gradient of up to 14%. So it's a real leg burner.
And if you're ever in the area definitely check this out. I actually stopped at a really nice pizza restaurant halfway up as well
But yeah each their own
Now these small Italian climbs, you have to include them. They're part of Italy, they're part of its racing heritage,
and they're also part of the sheer wealth of climbs that you have in Italy,
and for this reason Colle del Telegrafo is going on the list.
Right, that was my top 10 Italian climbs. I hope you enjoyed that, and I hope you found my list useful, but,
most importantly in the comments section below, what do you think whose list would you have gone for mine or GCN Italia's?
Not gonna lie,
it's getting pretty cold out here in Ireland, I'm starting to shiver and
I've lost a few spinach leaves off into the hedge in the wind, but uh, we'll keep dreaming. We'll keep dreaming.
Stay safe everyone. Thanks for watching and uh be kind out there. Thank you.
The spinach leaf's gone.