Passo dello Stelvio

Bormio, and the Mountains above the Stelvio

With the Giro d'Italia heading into the Dolomites and Alps this weekend I thought I'd look back at one of my favourite days cycling from 2010, when I spent a morning riding over the Stelvio Pass in the Italian Alps.  OK, so the Giro isn't going over the Stelvio this year, but the Stelvio is one of the most famous, and highest passes in Italy, and I've not ridden over the ones they're going over this year!  We were on holiday in Italy in July last year and rented a motorhome from Milan airport for 10 days to tour round the Italian Lakes.   The Italian town of Bormio is at the foot of the Stelvio on the western side and sits at the top of the Sondrio valley, about 2hours drive from the northern end of Lake Como.  So after a few days visiting Lake Maggiore, Lake Luggano and Lake Como, we worked our way up to Bormio for a couple of nights.

Bormio is clearly a regular feature of the Giro and is a pretty wee town.  I think the 2010 Giro had actually passed through the town a couple of months earlier on route to the Gavia Pass which is also near by. Having planned ahead I obviously had my bike with me and had done some web based research into potential riding for the holiday!  I found a great article on the Pez web site in which the riders completed the climb to the Stelvio twice in one day, from either side with a short hop over into neighbouring Switzerland, and decided this looked like an excellent route and the one I would follow too.

Preparation!

Being on holiday with the family means buggering off cycling all day doesn't make you particularly popular, so there was some compromising to be done....  In order to complete the circuit I estimated I would need a maximum of 6 hours.  Its approximately 60miles and I couldn't be sure what kind of average speed I might hope to achieve over such unfamiliar terrain!  To keep Laura happy I promised I'd be home by 12noon.  So a 6am departure was required!  This wasn't really a problem apart from the temperature at that time in the morning was bloody cold.  It meant I had the roads virtually to myself for the first ascent.

The hairpins are numbered on each side starting at 40 I think in Bormio and 49 on the eastern side.  Setting off I thought the numbering must be for the whole thing, i.e. 20 on one side and 20 on the other.... but no, its something like 25km and 40 hairpins from Bormio to the pass, at 2760m.  Having read the description on Pez
it mentions a waterfall and power station approximately half way up, but when I reached this point I simply could not believe I still was only half way there.  Then I passed a marking on the road - 15%, 10K... you're bloody joking.... The power station is at the top of a long valley and you can see it from a long way off.  As you approach it looks as though it must be the top of the climb, as its basically a wall with the road snaking back and forth across it.  Then as I got to the top to my horror I realised it just lead into another valley where the road continued to climb.  And the whole time there was a freezing cold block head wind!

Switchbacks at the Power station, halfway up, on the Bormio side

Through the second valley section the road climbs past a couple of old mountain refuge and the top of the pass gradually appear in the distance.  Cars occasionally pass, and you can watch them progress up the switch backs watching where the road goes and seeing how far there is still to cover.  A few miles before the summit there is an old closed hotel where a road branches off north toward the Swiss border.  First of all I had to tackle the final few K to the summit though.  This high up there is nothing to provide shelter and the road just weaves across the mountain side.  The pass featured a few hotels, people skiing (in July!) and the usual tourist shops.  By the time I got to the top it was 8.30.  2.5 hours of solid climbing.  Better crack on I thought if I was going to meet the 12noon eta!

1st time up!

The next section I descended back the way I'd just come up to the junction with the road into Switzerland and took the turn to the north over the Swiss border.  If I was cold going up I was frozen solid descending!  The descent into Switzerland stages off pretty fast and open with exciting switchbacks, but after a few K it turns into a gravel road surface which make it even more sporting.  Fortunately this doesn't go on forever and before long its back onto asphalt.  The final section of the steep descent was actually really good fun, tight switchbacks through pine trees, before passing through a small village and joining the main road.  This then takes you whizzing on down the hill, back across the border into Italy.  Finally starting to get warm by this stage!  Theres then a few miles along the valley floor to Prato allo Stelvio before the ascent on the Eastern side begins.

Trying to remember what I'd had to eat, and I think all I'd had was a couple of croissants and some juice, so by this stage I was starting to feel peckish.  I was hoping to find a nice wee cafe serving nice coffee and good cake, but unfortunately I couldnt find anywhere and ended up riding up the pass praying I'd come across something before I properly got the knock.  Fortunately there was a wee hotel a couple of K up the climb where I got good coffee and more croissants to fuel me a bit further.  Must have been about 9.30 by this stage, and other cyclists were starting to appear on the road.  As I climbed I starting coming across what seemed to be some kind of rolling road closure, but since I was on a bike the police let me ride through.  After a while they'd let the traffic go and I'd have literally hundreds of motor cycles roaring up the switchback after me.  I gradually worked out that there was some kind of sportive cycle event on and the police were closing the road for the cyclists, as I started picking off slower riders as I climbed.

The switchbacks on the east side of the pass are never ending, 49 of them each nicely numbered to let you know how many are left.  There obviously not all the same distance apart though which I found slightly annoying (being slightly OCD) as I couldnt set a target for ticking off switchbacks!  The final 5K you can clearly see the summit, and its not far away.... but the road goes back and forth so much it takes a long time.  I was very pleased when I reached the summit again to discover the sportivos had a big feed station near the summit, and since I was on a bike they didnt seem to mind me helping myself to a healthy amount of food!

My own personal road closure?

So finally the descent!  Mid-morning by this stage the traffic was much heavier both bicycles and motorcycles and cars, trucks, motor homes etc.  I  found another cyclist who seemed to have a fairly large pair of cojones and made it my mission to try and stay with him on the descent!  i was doing pretty well till I go to the tunnels. These are terrifying - 200+meters long, terrible road surface inside, and one has a bend in it, so you literally cannot see a thing.  Plus coming down in bright sunshine in sunglasses at 40mph into total darkness isn't my bag!  So I lost the wheel, and just enjoyed the remains of the descent and the stunning scenery.

I timed it well and made it back to the motor home almost exactly at 12.  Surprised how slow I was I guess, but totally pumped after an amazing run on the bike.  Unfortunately there wasnt time to try the Gavia or Mortirollo Passes which are also very near Bormio.  In the afternoon we went out in Bormio for lunch and a potter about, and the next day after a ride on the cable car to the near by ski station we drovn down through Aprica (finish town for an epic 2010 Giro stage) and on to Lake Iseo for a couple of nights, before coming home.  Unfortunately most of these pics were taken on a mobile phone, so they're poor.