The 2022 Giro will have an incredible amount of climbing: 172,800 feet (52,668 meters) over 23 days. For reference, the Tour de France this year has just over 159k feet (48,480m) of climbing. But what’s even more incredible than this number are the totals for some of the individual stages:
For a total of10 stages at over 8k feet and only 2 stages that gain less than 3k feet. Even the two individual time trials don’t offer much relief for the non-climbers, with categorized climbs in both of them.
The Italian grand tour begins in Hungary, with a 2 day tour of Budapest before heading out to the beautiful Hungarian countryside and Lake Balaton. This is followed by a rest day, where teams will fly all the way down to Sicily to conquer the mighty Mt. Etna, before making its way up the country to finish the full week in the Alps.
The most well known climbs featured this year besides Mt. Etna will be Passo Pordoi, Passo San Pelligrino, and Passo Fedaia, all coming in Stage 20 in the Dolomites. Stage 20 will also reach the highest point in the of the tour, peaking at the top of Passo Pordoi at 7,436 feet. Mt. Etna is the hardest climb of the tour, at 9.3 fiets.
Mountain Stages in the 2022 Giro d’Italia:
10 May 2022
168 km (104.3 mi) - 3505m (11,500’)
View interactive stage 4 profile
Official stage comments for Stage 4:
A stage through inland Sicily with a summit finish. Starting in Avola, the route touches the centre of Sicilian Baroque in Noto, and later passes Pantalica and Vizzini in the approach to the volcano. The stage finishes by Rifugio Sapienza, as it has already done before, but the closing climb is somewhat original. The route takes in the ascent from Ragalna (as in 2018), and then shifts to the ‘traditional’ side, the one coming from Nicolosi (as in 2011), for the last 14 km.
(Giroditalia.it)
15 May 2022
180.5 km (112.2 mi) - 4719m (15,717’)
View interactive stage 9 profile
Official stage comments for Stage 9:
A full mountain stage across the Apennines. The route rises early on, after the start in Isernia and heading towards Rionero Sannitico. After brushing by the iconic Macerone pass, the stage course takes in the first major climb in Roccaraso. The gradients then ease off, and the route continues mostly downhill all the way to the outskirts of Guardiagrele, before taking in the double ascent to the Blockhaus. The route climbs from Pretoro to Passo Lanciano, and then descends into Lettomanoppello. After circling the foot of the Majella, it rises towards the finish, passing through Roccamorice (as in 2017), and swirling through a series of hairpins with double-digit gradients.
(Giroditalia.it)
22 May 2021
177km (110.1 mi) - 3942m (12,932’)
View interactive stage 15 profile
Official stage comments for Stage 15:
A traditional mountain stage through the Valtellina, bringing back some long forgotten climbs. Starting in Salò, the route enters the Val Sabbia, passes Bagolino and clears the Goletto di Cadino (last tackled in 1998, when Pantani stormed to victory in Montecampione), crossing the Val Camonica. The route then takes in the Mortirolo coming from Monno (as in 2017), descends into Grosio and runs along the roads of the Sforzato Wine, after which the stage is named. After ascending to Teglio (the town after which the valley is named) and clearing the Santa Cristina pass (which was last tackled in 1999), the route eventually reaches Aprica.
(Giroditalia.it)
SALÒ - APRICA
24 May 2021
200 km (124.6 mi) - 5224m (17,140’)
View interactive stage 16 profile
Giro Official comments for Stage 16:
A queen stage across the Dolomites, with over 5,500 m vertical altitude gain. Just after the start, the route takes a lengthy climb up to La Crosetta and crosses the Pian del Cansiglio. After a technical and steep descent towards Lake Santa Croce, followed by a short climb along the slopes of the Nevegal, the course arrives in Belluno. The route then passes through Agordo up to Alleghe and Caprile, crossing the Val Cordevole upstream, and taking in the Passo Fedaia along the trunk road. Past Malga Ciapela, the gradient hovers steadily above 12% for nearly 5 km, topping out at 18% at the ‑2 km mark (Capanna Bill). After dropping into Canazei, the route rises at a steady 6% gradient for 12 km along Passo Pordoi (Cima Coppi). A fast-running descent through Arabba and up to Selva di Cadore leads to the foot of Passo Giau, where the road ascends at nearly 10% for 10 km. The route then drops towards Cortina, heading for the finish.
Final kilometres
After merging onto the ss. 48 (Strada delle Dolomiti) approx. 5 km before the finish, the route descends with milder gradients into urban Cortina, at 1,500 m out. Past the bridge over river Boite, the route rises at an easy 5% pitch, twisting all the way to the 300 m mark, where a left-hand bend leads into the home straight, on stone paving. (Giroditalia.it)
PONTE DI LEGNO - LAVARONE
25 May, 2021
166km (103mi) / 3670m (12,041’)
View interactive stage 17 profile
Stage 17 has only 3 categorized climbs, yet starts out with an un-categorized 4.6 fiet climb up the second half of the Passo del Tonale. The stage concludes with a brutal 5 mile ascent to Monte Rovere with multiple sections above 15%, before a brief descent down to the neighboring village of Lavarone.
BELLUNO - MARMOLADA
28 May, 2021
View interactive stage 20 profile
Giro Official comments for Stage 20:
A colossal stage through the Dolomites and the last summit finish of the 2022 Giro d’Italia. Starting in Belluno, and taking a short diversion across the valley of the Piave river through Sedico, Santa Giustina and the Certosa di Vedana, the route passes Agordo and Cencenighe, crossing the Val Cordevole upstream. The stage finale features three consecutive climbs: Passo di San Pellegrino (with gradients exceeding 15% past Falcade), Passo Pordoi (the 2022 Cima Coppi), and Passo Fedaia with the iconic Malga Ciapela straight, where the gradients hover steadily above 10%, topping out at 18%. The Serrai di Sottoguda were rendered impassable by the Vaia windstorm, which ravaged many of the locations crossed by the stage course. After 14 years, the Marmolada will be hosting another stage finish.
(Giroditalia.it)
27 tornanti along Passo Pordoi from Canazei.
The Giro has featured Passo Pordoi.
PJAMM Cycling’s Profile Tool
11.8 kilometers gaining 742 meters at 6.3% (0 descent)
Steepest kilometer is 7.4% and 88.5% of the climb is at 5-10%.
GIRO D’ITALIA HISTORY
Passo Pordoi was first featured in the Giro d’Italia in 1937 and since has appeared 39 times (most recently 2017 when Italy’s Diego Rosa was first over the pass). It has been the Cima Coppi (highest point of the Giro) 13 times (14 after the Giro passes over it May 24, Stage 16), more than any other pass in Giro history (Stelvio is second highest at 9[1]).
Cima Coppi:
“The Cima Coppi is the title given to the highest peak in the yearly running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The mountain that is given this title each year awards more mountains classification points to the first rider than any of the other categorized mountains in the race.
Photo: Wikipedia
Fausto Coppi finished first on Passo Pordoi 5 times
He also won the Giro 5 times (1940, 1947, 1949, 1952-53)
The categorization was first introduced for the 1965 Giro d'Italia in honor of the late Fausto Coppi who won five editions of the Giro d'Italia and three mountain classification titles during his career. It was first announced on 22 April 1965 by then race director Vicenzo Torriani that the highest peak would award two times as many mountains classification points. Torriani thought of possibly awarding time bonuses to the first to summit the mountain; however, after many dissenting opinions, he opted to go award more mountains classification points.
The Cima Coppi changes from year to year, depending on the altitude profile of the Giro d'Italia, but the Cima Coppi par excellence is the Stelvio Pass, which at 2758 m is the highest point ever reached by the Giro. The Stelvio has been used in the 1972, 1975, 1980, 1994, 2005, 2012, 2014 and 2017 editions. It was also scheduled in 1965, 1988, and 2013, but in each case the course was modified due to weather conditions, with various effects on the Cima Coppi designation,” (Wikipedia - Cima Coppi).
[1] Note - If Stelvio is included in a stage, it will necessarily be the Cima Coppi because it is the highest pass available to the Giro.
