Mortirolo Pass

Mortirolo Pass
Elevation 1,852 m (6,076 ft)
Location Sondrio/Brescia (Lombardy), Italy
Range Italian Alps
Coordinates 46°14′53″N 10°17′57″E / 46.24802°N 10.299143°E / 46.24802; 10.299143Coordinates: 46°14′53″N 10°17′57″E / 46.24802°N 10.299143°E / 46.24802; 10.299143
Mortirolo Pass

Location of Mortirolo Pass

The Mortirolo Pass (Italian: Passo di Mortirolo) (el. 1852 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in Italy. Also known as Passo di Foppa, it connects Mazzo di Valtellina (province of Sondrio) and Val Camonica (province of Brescia). The road from Mazzo di Valtellina is one of the most demanding climbs in professional road bicycle racing, having been used in the Giro d'Italia stage race many times.

In May 2004, while training in Italian Alps, Lance Armstrong said that it was the hardest climb he had ever ridden.[1]

Details of the climb

The mountain pass can be climbed by three roads, although the one from Mazzo di Valtellina is the most famous and only twice the Giro d'Italia climbed the mountain from alternative sides.

Giro d'Italia

Monument to Marco Pantani.

The Mortirolo Pass has featured several times in the Giro d'Italia, usually as the last or penultimate climb before the finish. The first time was in Stage 15 of the 1990 Giro d'Italia, between Morbegno and Aprica, starting from Edolo. Due to the steepness of the descent and the crashes that were occurring, the organisers decided to climb this mountain starting from Mazzo in subsequent years.

Since the death of Marco Pantani in 2004, stages of the Giro that go over the Mortirolo feature a special prize to the first man at the top of the pass, called Cima Pantani ("Pantani Top"). A monument to Marco Pantani was erected in 2006 by the Italian Professional Riders Association in the eighth kilometre of the road from Mazzo di Valtellina. [6]

First rider passing Mortirolo in Giro d'Italia

Year Name Country Stage Side
1990 Leonardo Sierra  Venezuela 17 Edolo
1991 Franco Chioccioli  Italy 15 Mazzo di Valtellina
1994 Marco Pantani  Italy 15 Mazzo di Valtellina
1996 Ivan Gotti  Italy 21 Mazzo di Valtellina
1997 Wladimir Belli  Italy 21 Mazzo di Valtellina
1999 Ivan Gotti  Italy 21 Mazzo di Valtellina
2004 Raffaele Illiano  Italy 19 Mazzo di Valtellina
2006 Ivan Basso  Italy 20 Mazzo di Valtellina
2008 Toni Colom  Spain 20 Mazzo di Valtellina
2010 Ivan Basso  Italy 19 Mazzo di Valtellina
2012 Oliver Zaugg   Switzerland 20 Tovo di Sant'Agata
2015 Steven Kruijswijk  Netherlands 16 Mazzo di Valtellina
2017 16 Edolo

See also

References

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