The Italian and Swiss Alps are tough guy, tough girl, terrority. Here the men get sorted from the boys, the women from the girls. These climbs are often on a different scale, either in altitude, or length, sometimes remoteness, or all of the above.
One of the greatest mountain passes in the world. The Stelvio is like no other. Read all the technical statistics about the Stelvio you want, but nothing prepares you for the emotional reality of the place. The entire pass is surreal, a Holywood film set of an imagined mountain pass, but for real. The closer to the top, the more surreal it becomes.
Passo Stelvio - Pictures and Prints
The Grimsel and Furka pass makes for a dramatic sight deep in the heart of the Alps. The abandoned Hotel Belvédère, sitting high up on what looks like the world's edge, adds a poignant focus to the overwhelming sense of something lost. It has been photographed extensively by just about everyone who ever climbed this epic mountain, including cyclists, as it signifies almost the top of the climb.
Furka Pass - Pictures and PrintsThe Colle Delle Finestre has two sides with very different personalities. One is the super smooth glamorous side where cool Italian woman picnic with their husbands in their bikinis.
The other side is the even more famous Giro d’Italia gravel climb. Both have a mountain range just floating about in the background but on the gravel climb whether going up or down, you are going to be too immersed in the history and heroics of the Giro to notice.
Colle delle Finestre - Pictures and Prints
The Colle dell'Agnello or Col Agnel straddles the French and Italian border. It's the second-highest road pass in the Alps after the Col de I'Iseran many miles to the north. Like the I'Iseran, the Colle del Agnello is wild and unpredictable and from the Italian side a monster climb.
Colle dell'Agnello - Pictures and PrintsMost of the original St. Gotthard Pass is paved with granite cobbles, smaller cobbles than Flanders, but cobbles nonetheless. With a new road tunnel bypassing the original road entirely. Apart from the other crazy cyclists climbing this piece of history, you have the climb almost to yourself.
St. Gotthard Pass - Pictures and Prints
