The climb in the Italian Dolomites that’s breathtaking in every sense
Words Mark Bailey Photography Patrik Lundin
Classic Climbs
owers of rock pierce the blue sky like ancient battlements. Pine forests cling precariously to the slopes below. A tantalising sliver of tarmac beneath your wheels leads through green meadows festooned with wildflowers towards the swirling climb ahead. The Passo Gardena is surely one of the most enchanting climbs in the Italian Dolomites, with every switchback revealing glorious picture-postcard views. But this Giro d’Italia classic – which looms above the town of Corvara in the Alta Badia region – has a dark secret.
Although less well known than the neighbouring Passo Sella and Passo Pordoi, which along with the Passo Campolongo form the four passes of the famous Sella Ronda ski and bike loop, the Passo Gardena is known among local riders as the toughest of the quartet. The average gradient is a reasonable 6.5%, but this ascent packs in flurries of hairpins that hit 7-10%, and it serves up a maximum leg-sapping gradient of 12%. With the accompanying lack of oxygen, the 2,121m-high Gardena is much harder than the fairytale pictures suggest. Italian legend Vincenzo Nibali has knocked it out in 22min 28sec, but we’d recommend you budget a lot more time – and grab an extra shot of espresso too.
History and legend
The Gardena climb has featured in the Giro d’Italia 18 times, from its first appearance in 1949 to its most recent in 2017. Famous riders to have crested the pass first include Fausto Coppi (1949, 1954), Gino Bartali (1950), Charly Gaul (1958), Laurent Fignon (1984) and Lucho Herrera (1989). On the Giro’s last pilgrimage here, Stage 18 of the 2017 race, Spanish pro Mikel Landa crossed the Gardena first on his way to winning his only mountains classification jersey at a Grand Tour.
This year the race will return to the Val Gardena region for a finish in nearby Santa Cristina Val Gardena on Stage 16, and for a start in Selva di Val Gardena on Stage 17. Although the Gardena pass itself will not feature, amateur riders will be flocking here in their thousands.
The Passo Gardena connects the Val Gardena in the west with the Val Badia in the east. A route was first built over the pass in 1915 during the First World War, but the first paved road was built in the 1960s and it ushered in a wave of tourism, with
