Road Cycling Highlight (Segment)
Recommended by 81 road cyclists
Location: Ovaro, Udine, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy
Steep, Steeper, Monte Zoncolan
The superlative of mountain roads leads up Monte Zoncolan. This ski mountain in the Carnic Alps has been the toughest climb in the Giro several times.
Even the bare facts of this ladder to heaven sound devilish: The ten-kilometer climb up the 1,730-meter-high Zoncolan overcomes 1,203 meters of elevation gain. From kilometers two to seven, the average gradient is 15.3 percent, with two sections featuring 20 and 22 percent climbs.
After the turnoff in Ovaro, the road winds gently through the town, but at the last houses, the more than eleven percent gradient gives us a taste of the difficult main course.
After the town, the "Strada al Zoncolan" begins – 8.2 kilometers dedicated to the Giro's great climbers: Every few hundred meters, a large plaque with their pictures is installed. 18 in total.
July 23, 2020
Doing this climb is an experience absolutely worth trying.
September 17, 2023
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