The week prior to the Maratona is an event in itself called “Riders Week”. When you love to ride, you will love this ride. Group rides, training rides, and parties are organized before the main event starts. Most participants will take advantage of this opportunity and spent their entire week in this area.
You will ride seven spectacular mountain passes in the Dolomite. The number of climbs look never ending. Passo Pordoi (2.239m) is a stunner. Green meadows, barren rocks, sweeping hairpins, steady but though gradient and spectacular views back down. It’s the second climb of the day. Big numbers of cyclists still in bunches quietly climbing hairpin after hairpin.
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The steepest of all climbs is the Passo Giau (2.236m), a real killer for the legs and a true test for your climbing capbilities. The numbers of the Passo Giau says it all; 9.8 kilometers of climbing with an average of 9.2%.
Passo Giau starts with one straight kilometer without any hairpins, this is an ideal moment to find you climbing pace. After this, the 29 hairpins start. It’s just grueling, as you will start this climb with 88km and 2.500 altimeters already done. The Passo Giau is the most outstanding climb in the Maratona dles Dolomites – Enel, which weaves together a number of the most beautiful roads and mountains in the region including the Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella, Gardena and Falzarego.
After the Passo Giau you still have some hard work ahead of you. You still need to climb Passo Valparola (2.200m) with a length of 11.8km against an average 6.7%. Close to Corvara you have the “Mür dl giat”, it’s 360 meters of tough climbing. This will be your last obstacle before reaching the finish. Maratona dles Dolomites – Enel made it challenging until the very end. The average of this short climb is 13.1% with the steepest hitting it to a 19%.
To get it all summarized, below all of the climbs you have to overcome in one day.
Passo Campolongo – 1.875 m. Length of climb: 5.8 km. Elevation gain: 353 m. Average gradient: 6.1 %. Steepest gradient: 11 %
Passo Pordoi – 2.239 m. Starting elevation: 1601 m. Length of climb: 9.2 km. Elevation gain: 638 m. Average gradient: 6.9 %. Steepest gradient: 10 %.
Passo Sella – 2.244 m. Starting elevation: 1808 m. Length of ascent: 5.5 km. Elevation gain: 436 m. Average gradient: 7.9 %. Steepest gradient: 12 %
Passo Gardena – 2.121 m. Starting elevation: 1871 m. Length of climb: 5.8 km Elevation gain: 250 m. Average gradient: 4.3 %. Steepest gradient: 10 %
Passo Giau – 2.236 m. Starting elevation: 1314 m. Length of ascent: 9.9 km. Elevation gain: 922 m. Average gradient: 9.3 %. Steepest gradient: 15 %
Passo Valparola – 2.200 m. from Andraz. Starting elevation: 1414 m. Length of ascent: 11.8 km. Elevation gain: 786 m. Average gradient: 6.7 %. Steepest gradient: 15 %
“Mür dl giat” (The cat wall) has a maximum slope of 19%
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