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The key climbs of the 2024 Giro d’Italia
The Giro d’Italia is all about the climbs. The zenith of great GC clashes and spellbinding efforts, the mountains will be where the Italian Grand Tour will be won and lost.
This year, the Giro will take the riders through the Alps, Apennines and Dolomites during the three-week expedition around Italy. Starting in the northern frontier in the Piedmont region, the Giro will take the riders southwards into the spine of Italy before one last hurrah in the northeastern corner, which is home to the most legendary Italian climbs.
Familiar names and forgotten faces will make an appearance in this year’s Corsa Rosa. The race racks up a total elevation gain of 42,000m over the 21 stages. In preparation for the 2024, we’ve broken down six of the most influential climbs to feature in this year’s Giro d’Italia.
Oropa
Steeped in cycling folklore, the climb to the Oropa Sanctuary is an 11km climb that averages a moderate 6.3% gradient. Although not grotesque in gradient or length, Oropa will be an early test for the riders in the 2024 Giro d’Italia, coming only on Stage 2.
Complemented by a cobbled approach in the final hundred metres or so, the climb is a unique addition to the Giro’s climbing tapestry. At the summit sits the Santuario di Oropa, home to The Black Virgin – a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary painted in black. According to legend, the statue was carried to the top of the mountain in the 4th century AD.
The Giro has finished up Oropa a total of six times, most recently in 2017 when Tom Dumoulin dieseled his way back to the front group to claim a win in the maglia rosa.
In 1999, Marco Pantani made a Herculean comeback on the climb after puncturing at a crucial point on the early slopes. By overtaking 49 riders, Pantani made his way up to the front of affairs to take the stage win solo in the pink jersey.
Passo dello Stelvio
The most recognisable name in the Giro’s climbing canon, the Stelvio Pass will make a cameo on Stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia. The climb, which peaks at a dizzying altitude of 2,758m above sea level, is a wicked test worthy of its Cima Coppi status.
The Stelvio is the highest paved road in Italy and comes at the tri-point between German, Italian and Romasch-speaking regions. Despite its prestige, the climb hasn’t featured in the Giro since 2020 when Rohan Dennis led Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jai Hindley to the top. In 2024, we will take the climb from Bormio, on the western side. This ascent clocks in at 19.5km and records an average gradient of 7.5%.
Over the years, the Stelvio – or Stilfserjoch as it’s known in the local dialect – has seen some of the Giro’s most decisive and memorable moments. From Tom Dumoulin’s untimely toilet break to Thomas De Gendt’s underdog podium challenge and Fausto Coppi’s astounding GC comeback in 1953, the Stelvio has become a canonical mountain test for the Giro.
- Read our Passo dello Stelvio Classic Climb.
Monte Grappa
Monte Grappa will make its long-awaited return to the Corsa Rosa on Stage 20 of this year’s race. As the final mountain of the Giro, it will be climbed twice from Semonzo. That ascent, one of ten ways up, is 18km in length with an average gradient of 8.1% but hides a couple of sneaky descents and not so sneaky steep sections that top out at 17%.
The mountain’s history goes far beyond that of the Giro d’Italia. The Battles of Monte Grappa marked an important turning point on Italy’s northern front against Austro-Hungarian advancements in World War I. In memory of the fallen, an ossuary and memorial can be found at the summit of the climb. In World War II, Monte Grappa played a different role as a hiding spot for Italian Partisans seeking refuge from Nazi occupation.
The Monte Grappa has appeared in five Giri over the decades. Most recently, the historic peak played host to an individual mountain time-trial back in 2014. On that day, Nairo Quintana took the win covered head-to-toe in pink, riding from Bassano del Grappa to the summit in little over an hour. In 2024, the alp will be the final uphill test of the Giro d’Italia, rounding off the three-week long GC affair and bringing a final obstacle for any sprinters wanting to contest the Stage 21 processional finish.
- Read our Monte Grappa Classic Climb and keep your eyes peeled for Cyclist issue 153 for more
Prati di Tivo
The Abruzzese summit of Prati di Tivo is right in the geographical centre of Italy, nestled in the Apennines. It will host the summit finish on day 8 of the 2024 Corsa Rosa, and at 14.5km long with an average gradient of 7%, it’s the longest climb in a challenging opening week of the this year’s Giro.
The hardest section of the climb comes just after base-camp. From here, the peloton will negotiate its 22 hairpin-long ascent. That’s a whole hairpin more than the more well-known Alpe d’Huez. After overcoming these switchbacks, the riders will tackle a long exposed drag to the line in the final three kilometres. To add to the GC surprises on this stage, there will be an intermediate sprint halfway up the climb in the village of Pietracamela.
Prati di Tivo is a Giro rarity. In fact, the ‘Prati’ has only hosted one Giro summit finish in the past. More often, this massif has featured as part of Tirreno-Adriatico. In recent history there, Tadej Pogačar took the stage win on a snowy ascent in 2021, while Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali claimed hard-fought wins here in 2013 and 2012 respectively. All of these riders went on to win the Tour de France after their successes on the mountain – so it certainly has legendary pedigree.
Passo del Mortirolo
In the second half of the Giro’s 15th stage, the peloton will ride into the jaws of death at the Passo del Mortirolo. In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport in the early 2000s, L*nce *rmstrong described it as the ‘hardest climb he had ever ridden’.
From Monno, the average gradient is deceiving at only 7.6%, but the climb ramps up to a maximum of 16% in its final phase. Once the race hits these slopes, the gradient stays in double digits until they crest the summit.
The race organisers previously decided to cut the brutally steep descent after a chaotic stage to Aprica at the 1990 Giro d’Italia. Since then, the climb has featured on the Giro percorso on 14 occasions, most recently in 2022 when Koen Bouwman took the prize on offer for the first rider over the top.
This year it comes on Stage 15 as a precursor to the final climb to Livigno, though it was a last minute addition after the initial plan to enter Switzerland was denied by the Swiss government.
- Read our Mortirolo Classic Climb
Passo Brocon
Serving as the final pure summit finish of the 2024 Giro d’Italia, the Passo Brocon will make its return after a 68-year hiatus from the race. The Brocon is an untapped Dolomite with a real sting in the tail. With a total length of 15.4km at an average gradient of 5.6%, it will provide one final chance for the climbers to dash away before the plateau arrival to Sappada on Stage 19 and Stage 20’s downhill finale into Bassano del Grappa.
Within the final three kilometres of the climb, the slopes will be undulating yet relentless. The road flattens off at the top before one final tilt towards the flamme rouge where the road kicks up to 8% one final time.
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