

I am currently in Bormio. Tomorrow the Giro will climb Passo dello Stelvio starting at my little hotel, then descend the famous side of Stelvio (think hairpins), traverse down low, enter Switzerland, climb Umbrailpass (the highest paved road in Switzerland), then rejoin the Bormio side of Stelvio 3 kms from the summit and descend back to Bormio. Got it?

Yes, today, I wore pink, cycled two sides of Stelvio, and then drank beers.

I am currently internet bandwidth challenged, so this will be quick, with a few photos. But, bottom line, tomorrow's stage: FUN!

I started from my little hotel 30 seconds from the start of the climb. After a kilometre or two, it becomes beautiful until the summit.

This side has 40 signed hairpins. Should hairpin sign #1 be at the bottom or the top? If you've slowly cycled a monster like this the answer is easy. #1 is near the top so you can slowly count down your progress while suffering like a pig.

After a few kilometres there is a series of short tunnels (avalanche protection), perhaps 6. They are not too long but note, many are very wet inside, with turns. And the pros will climb AND descend through them. Not easy.

Just after the tunnels and before the best part of this side the road gets steep, the steepest stretch on the climb. Luckily someone kindly painted the details on the road.

Clearly, some hairpins were needed, so they built them.

Looking down:

Above these hairpins, things get a touch easier. Perhaps 3 kms from the summit is the intersection with Umbrailpass. There were - surprisingly - Italian customs officers there, but they waved innocent old me through. The pass is only a couple of hundred metres away. There is a relatively new exhibition remembering the White War (WW1) fought here between the Austrians and Italians ... the highest fighting in Europe?

Just above my hand is Passo dello Stelvio summit.

Exactly at the highest paved point in Switzerland, an enthusiastic Dutch man was painting the road. I congratulated him. He said it wasn't finished. I said: "you need moulin." He smiled and said "no, I am going to write Milan." and looked at me proudly. We then debated who would win tomorrow's stage. He lost interest when I told him Pinot would win easily.

I doubled back and continued up towards Stelvio. Now there was more snow. Although far less than one would usually expect at this time of year.

Soon, I was at the summit. When I think of the highest mountain passes in Europe, they are usually deserted or very quiet. Higher than Stelvio, Iseran has a chapel and a small, often-closed, restaurant. Colle dell'Agnello has nothing. Nearly as high as Stelvio, Passo di Gavia has one restaurant, Col de la Bonette nothing, Fauniera nothing, Nivolet nothing, etc. But Stelvio is a party.

This photo misses the majority of stuff. Hugely developed.

After some calories, I descended. Look, when asked my favourite Alpine climb I am guilty of naming slightly obscure stuff (to seem cool?). But wow, there is absolutely nothing like the famous side of Stelvio. Instead of following the loop the Giro will do, I descended down all the fun stuff and turned around. Climbing 37 of the 48 signed hairpins (I just didn't have the motivation/strength/talent to get all the way to the bottom. But I still made sure to get around the corner for a few kms to ensure I climbed the entire "view." Perhaps 25 hairpins?

I better hurry up, I need to eat.

33 hairpins below the summit:

This descent is technical. Far more technical than the Bormio side. All the hairpins feel like sharp, inclined, 180 degree turns. I saw a couple of buses doing 4 point turns.

Higher up, while descending, I tried to get a couple of shots "riding with lots of hairpins" using my mini tripod and timer.

There was, of course, a lot of people about. Most people in great moods, drivers friendly, etc. As usual, the only people I dislike are the guys in old sports cars or Porsches who think they are rally drivers. Apart from the hairpins signs, there are few others. But there are several asking motorcyclists to not act like assholes.

The views are as good as it gets. One really feels high, at the top of the mountains.

Here is the last hairpin!

And then it was back to where we started: Beer o'clock.

PS - I have a silly hobby where I try and photograph Heart Shaped hairpins. Tougher than it sounds. My best candidate today, maybe 5 /10?

Thanks for listening. Please excuse the hastily composed article, and any typos, my Internet has crashed 6 times while scribbling this.