Passo Gavia — 2,618 metres through a narrow, savage climb

The Gavia connects Ponte di Legno and Bormio through a narrow, unsignposted road that most sat-navs still refuse to recognise. At 2,618 metres it tops even the Stelvio's neighbour Umbrail, and it's far harder to forget. In cycling circles the Gavia is remembered for one afternoon in 1988.

The 1988 Giro stage

On 5 June 1988 the Giro d'Italia crossed the Gavia in a blizzard. Andy Hampsten kept riding in short sleeves while most of the peloton dismounted and huddled; Johan van der Velde lost forty-seven minutes. The stage is widely considered the hardest day in Grand Tour cycling. Hampsten rode into the maglia rosa and, eventually, the overall win.

Riding it

The south side from Ponte di Legno is 25 km of jagged pitches: wide-open shepherd country at the bottom, a forested middle section, and a final kilometre of exposed high-alpine bends. The north side from Bormio is shorter but steep and narrow enough that you can touch the rock wall with your left hand. A tunnel near the top is unlit; bring a light.

Along the way

• WW1 military fortifications — Remnants of First World War trenches, bunkers, and gun positions scattered across the upper reaches of the pass, where the Italian and Austro-Hungarian front lines once ran.
• Lago Nero — A small, dark-watered alpine lake near the summit at 2,580 m, set in a bowl of bare rock and often still frozen into early July.
• Santa Caterina Valfurva — A quiet mountain village on the north side below Bormio, a former cross-country ski World Cup venue and the last services stop before the climb begins from the north.
• Stelvio and Mortirolo — The two sibling climbs of the Valtellina, usually ridden as a three-pass day.
• Stelvio-Gavia-Mortirolo loop — The multi-day route that strings the three together.