This is the challenge: a distance of 11 km with an average gradient of 7%. Putting it this way it does not sound at all terrifying, as the initial section of this climb – but this is just an appetiser of what lies ahead. It is there where the mountain opens up and the grey and protruding peaks of the Dolomites explode from the valley that the slopes begin to get tough.
Often part of itineraries that make it seem much more insidious than the numbers suggest on paper, the Sella Pass climb is a must for cyclists who like to take on the challenge of the mountain: 11 km, of which the first five, from Canazei to the junction that separates the routes, shared with the road to the Pordoi pass. The junction separates the climb into two distinct parts, the first half characterised by more regular and contained slopes, while in the second part the mountain shows its true nature: increasingly narrower switchbacks become even more challenging with sudden inclines.