Colle delle Finestre will be the feature climb in Saturday’s Giro stage 20. It’s a gigantic climb that I’ve dreamed of cycling. Before watching it on TV, I thought I’d explore while the roads were deserted (in fact closed to cars).
A quick thanks to all the people who have asked if all was well due to the lack of posts recently. I’ve been nursing a sore knee.
Anyway, here’s a brief video of the climb:
A few random thoughts:
- The steepest ramps seemed to be in the first two kilometres. The rest of the climb is very steadily steep.
- The first 10 kms are beautifully paved – and narrow – with loads of hairpins
- The 8 unpaved kilometres were clearly just smoothed over for the Giro.
- At the top are two monuments to Danilo Di Luca that was first over Finestre in 2005, it’s only other Giro appearance
- ABOVE, the Colle is an interesting “garden” with monuments celebrating the most famous cycling climbs (Stelvio, Mortirolo, Gavia, Ventoux, Tourmalet, Izoard, Galibier, and Alpe d’Huez)
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Views
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Difficulty
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Quiet / No Traffic
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Fun Factor
For some pics taken on a sunnier day, see here.
Awesome
A quiet, beautiful, gigantic climb. Note, the top half is not paved.
8 Comments
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If you can do this one, then your knees must be getting better again. LOVELY climb, isn’t it? Your videos are getting very professional.
Dommage pour le temps, on a pu voir avec le passage des coureurs que la vue est superbe en bien des endroits. Bien joué !
Col Envy 🙂 This one is still on my list. Enjoyed the Video-Pete
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I want to try this one. Ok on standard road bike on 23/25c IYHO?
Hi Tim,
I don’t know. The top half is unpaved, but I rode it a couple of days before the Giro and there were steamrollers flattening the route. It may be less good know. An amazing climb.
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