Tutti Dolomiti Stage 10 – Stelvio!

Stelvio to Bormio

Strava: 44.48 km, 1,593m, 3:10, 46 shifts, max speed 80.8 kph

Well, I don’t even know how to describe this day. The ride was awesome amazing fantastic superlative from the start to the finish. It started normally enough, leave the hotel at 8:50, a couple of km warmup, mostly downhill. Then the climb of the day, the Passo dello Stelvio, started. By the numbers it’s a little daunting, almost 20 km of climbing, up over 1,500m to the highest point on our tour, 2,757m. I worried my power problems of the last few days might continue. But even at the start it felt a little different. Maybe not full power but better. The weather was absolutely perfect – I would not have changed a thing about it if I could. We headed up the valley, so scenic, and then hit the first of the famous 48 hairpin turns.

We were still down in the trees for a while but as we climbed we eventually popped out and finally could see all the way to the pass from about turn #22 (#1 is at the top; #48 at the bottom). By this time I was totally loving every second. I stopped for a banana/photo break and ended up staying a while – the view was so amazing. As we headed up and up, I kept feeling better and better and loving it more and more. The air was so fresh, the snow everywhere was gleaming, the only slight downer was the sheer number of motorcycles – and their smell and noise.

The last few km passed all too quickly, and suddenly it was over. I climbed on the wall and looked down and shot some photos, then rode the last meters to the summit. It was a complete zoo on top, hundreds of people everywhere. Wijnand had a great place right on top for some snacks, and soon Ben arrived with the lunch van so we could eat more seriously. I went souvenir shopping and got a nice Stelvio bike jersey too.

We didn’t want it to end so Nick, Mike and I rode up a ways to a little restaurant. It was up a path that was plowed clear of snow, a nice little extra summit. After that we decided to head down but stopped a number of times to just look and try and absorb. At the intersection below we intentionally went the wrong way so we could visit Switzerland. The border was just a few hundred meters away. We had a look at the customs building (now unused) and a war memorial exhibit, then turned around and went back into Italy and down toward Bormio. When we got down to about turn #25, there were some tunnels and galleries we had been warned about – wet, dripping, bad pavement, super dark, but they all seemed fine to me. There was a traffic light in one especially narrow one, one-way traffic was VERY nice there. There was a steep straight-ish section with a special speed limit 60 sign – which is right where I hit my top speed so far on the trip, 80.8! The bike is SO solid. We had no trouble with all the motorcycles, and mostly went near or at their speed. Soon we were down in Bormio and our hotel was right there. WOW!

Mike and I were able to check-in even though it was really early. We had great showers then headed down to the bar to celebrate. We had weissbier while we watched the last 40 km of stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia. They were climbing another famous pass that I will be riding in the next tour, called Colle delle Finestre. I had been wondering about this one since its gravel sections are a little infamous. The Giro guys made it look pretty easy, riding uphill 9% at 17-20 kph! A bit later we went out and had beers with the staff, then picked out a restaurant for dinner. My first choice looked great and had plenty of space, but “completely booked” when we asked. The next three places were the same. Finally at a basic pizzeria we had success, although outside was “completely booked”. It was tasty and really nice to walk around the beautiful town of Bormio a bit.

For me this day was the highlight of the tour, although stage 5 with the Stellaronda etc. was amazing too. Maybe one of the few remaining days will top it? It’s hard to imagine. I also have a couple more weeks riding Milano San Remo, so you never know. I honestly can’t think of a ride in my life that was better than this day. Although the ride where I met Katie in 2021 was also great and had the best possible ever post-ride outcome!