The Stelvio Pass

The hardest day I have ever ridden: four passes in one loop with the lads. Up the Ofen Pass from the Swiss National Park, down into Italy, the full 48 hairpins of the Stelvio from Prato to 2,757m, over the Umbrail back into Switzerland and up the Ofen Pass again. 109km and 3,027m of climbing.

The Stelvio needs no introduction to anyone who follows cycling. On Sunday 18 August 2013 I finally rode it, as part of a big loop from the Swiss side with two friends, all of us in orange Mr Feelgood team kit. My note was short, "Great day out with the lads including the Stelvio Pass..", but the day itself was anything but: four passes, 3,027m of climbing and eight and a half hours out.

The Passo dello Stelvio, the Stilfser Joch in German, is 2,757m high: the highest paved pass in the Eastern Alps and the second highest in the whole of the Alps. The sign at the top says 2,760m. The road was built in 1820–25 by the Austrian Empire, to link Lombardy with the Tyrol, under the engineer Carlo Donegani. It's famous for its northern side, the one I climbed, from Prato allo Stelvio through Trafoi: 48 numbered hairpins, most of them tight, over 28km. The southern side down to Bormio is 22km, with 34 wider hairpins.

The Giro d'Italia first crossed it in 1953, when Fausto Coppi beat Hugo Koblet over it. Since then, whenever the Giro goes over the Stelvio it's the race's highest point, the Cima Coppi, the prize named after him. The road is only open from about May to November.

The Other Three Passes

The loop starts at Il Fuorn on the Ofen Pass road, inside the Swiss National Park, the oldest national park in the Alps, founded in 1914. The Ofen Pass, the Pass dal Fuorn in Romansh, tops out at 2,149m and leads down into the Val Müstair. On the way home, the Umbrail Pass branches off the Stelvio road just below the top: at 2,501m it's the highest paved road pass in Switzerland, on a road up from Santa Maria built in 1901. It's the quiet way onto the Stelvio, and it brought us back into Switzerland.

The RideOfen Pass, Stelvio, Umbrail And Ofen Pass AgainSunday 18 August 2013

The route, from my GPS track. Green: Il Fuorn. Clockwise: over the Ofen Pass, down the Val Müstair into Italy, round to Prato (white), up the Stelvio (red), over the Umbrail to Santa Maria and back over the Ofen Pass. This ride on Strava →

109.3kmDistance

3,027mClimbing

860mLowest point (Val Venosta)

5h 34mMoving time

09:15–17:50Out on the road (8h 34m)

19.6km/hAverage moving speed

67.2km/hTop speed

123 / 157Heart rate, average / max (bpm)

3,794Calories

2,757mHighest point (the Stelvio)

4Passes

48Hairpins on the Stelvio

Six13Bike (road)

How The Day Went

09:15 – 09:57

Pass one: the Ofen PassIl Fuorn → Pass dal Fuorn, 2,149m

9.3km+358m3.9% average

10:03 – 10:57

Down the Val Müstair into ItalyTschierv → Santa Maria → Glurns → Prato

35km−1,170m

10:58 – 11:29

Fuel stopPrato allo Stelvio

32 min

11:30 – 13:42

Pass two: the StelvioPrato → Trafoi → 48 hairpins → the top

24.8km+1,740m7% average2h 12m

13:42 – 15:08

At the topPasso dello Stelvio, 2,757m

86 minphotos and a hug

15:08 – 15:15

Down to the Umbrail turnPass three: the Umbrail, 2,501m

3.5km

15:15 – 15:53

Café stopUmbrail

38 min

15:54 – 16:14

Down the Umbrail→ Santa Maria

12.9km−1,033m8% average

16:20 – 17:26

Pass four: the Ofen Pass againSanta Maria → Pass dal Fuorn

13.8km+680m4.9% average

17:37 – 17:50

Home→ Il Fuorn

9.7km

The Ofen Pass And Down Into Italy

We set off from Il Fuorn at 09:15, by the sign for Punt la Drossa at 1,706m, and the first job was the Ofen Pass: 9.3km and 358m up through the forests of the National Park to the top at 09:57. Then the long descent of the Val Müstair, through Tschierv and Santa Maria, over the border into Italy at Taufers and down past the walled town of Glurns into the Val Venosta, 35km and nearly 1,200m downhill. We stopped in Prato allo Stelvio for half an hour at 10:58 before the big one.

A yellow Swiss signpost at Punt la Drossa showing distances to Alp la Schera, Il Fuorn and other places — 09:10 at the start: Punt la Drossa, 1,706m.

Three cyclists in orange team jerseys at the side of the road at the start of the ride, with mountains behind — 09:14: the lads, ready to go.

A cyclist in an orange Mr Feelgood jersey riding up the Ofen Pass road through the forest — 09:41, climbing the Ofen Pass.

The blue sign at the top of the Pass dal Fuorn, 2,149m — 09:57: pass one, the Pass dal Fuorn, 2,149m.

The Stelvio

The climb from Prato is 24.8km and 1,740m at an average of 7%, and it never lets up. The first part runs up the valley through Gomagoi to Trafoi, and above Trafoi the hairpins start, all 48 of them numbered, stacked up the head of the valley. It took me two hours and 12 minutes, and I was at the top at 13:42.

We stayed up there for nearly an hour and a half. The top of the Stelvio is a busy place on a summer Sunday, full of riders, motorbikes, stalls and hotels, and after a climb like that you want to sit down. There are photos of the sign, of the Garmin (by then 1,868 calories and three and three quarter hours of riding), and of a hug at the summit.

The sign at the top of the Stelvio: Passo dello Stelvio, Cima Coppi, m. 2760 — The sign at the top: Passo dello Stelvio, Cima Coppi, 2,760m.

Me at the summit of the Stelvio Pass, 2760 metres — 13:58: at the top.

A Garmin bike computer showing 1868 calories and 3 hours 45 minutes elapsed time — 13:59: the Garmin at the top.

Me celebrating with a riding companion at the summit of the Stelvio Pass — 14:05: a hug at the top.

The Hotel Stilfserjoch at the top of the Stelvio, with riders and walkers outside — The Hotel Stilfserjoch at the top.

The busy summit of the Stelvio Pass with hotels, stalls, riders and motorbikes — The scene at the top on a summer Sunday.

Me riding across the top of the Stelvio Pass with a motorbike alongside — 14:03: riding round at the top, with the motorbikes.

The Stelvio hairpins winding down the mountainside, seen from above — 14:53: the hairpins we'd just come up, from the top.

The Umbrail And The Ofen Pass Again

From the top it's only a few minutes down the Bormio side to the turn for the Umbrail, pass number three, 2,501m and the highest paved road pass in Switzerland. There's a café there, and we stopped again, for 38 minutes. Then the descent to Santa Maria: 12.9km and over 1,000m down at 8% in 21 minutes, with a top speed of 67km/h for the day.

Me riding the road near the top of the Stelvio in cycling kit — 15:00: setting off for the Umbrail.

Umbrail Pass 2503m altitude sign with me and my bike, cows grazing in the background — 15:15: pass three, the Umbrail.

Me and two riding companions in orange Mr Feelgood team jerseys at a cafe table after the ride — 15:22: the café at the Umbrail, homemade cake on the board.

And then the sting in the tail. From Santa Maria the only way home is back over the Ofen Pass: pass four, 13.8km and 680m at nearly 5% with 85km already in the legs. Over the top at 17:26, down to Il Fuorn at 17:50. 109.3km, 3,027m of climbing, five and a half hours of riding and eight and a half hours out. The hardest day I have ever ridden; only one ride on this site has more climbing: the Galibier and Glandon day in 2012.

One note on the heights: my Garmin read about 100m low that day, so it shows the top at 2,652m. The real height of the pass is 2,757m.

Where It Is

The Stelvio (marker) on the border of Lombardy and South Tyrol, with the Umbrail, the Val Müstair and the Ofen Pass to the west.