Cycling, the Colle delle Finestre: the Giro d’Italia Women climbs the sky and makes history

The women’s Giro d’Italia, which is now called Giro Women and is organized by RCS Sport, has made the history of women’s cycling on a global level. Already in 1997 it had opened the borders towards the sky: then the Pisan Fabiana Luperini, capable of winning 5 Giri and 3 Tours, flew on the Zoncolan, in Friuli, faced from the Sutrio side. Then the girls of the Giro fearlessly climbed the Stelvio pass, the Mortirolo twice (from both sides, Monno and Mazzo), the Zoncolan again but this time from Ovaro, the hardest climb in Europe, and tomorrow here is the Colle delle Finestre, the Piedmontese climb that in less than twenty years has conquered the world stage. Due to its unique characteristics, it has become one of the most challenging: it will be a test of survival, which will push the limits of women’s cycling even further. A comparison: the Tour de France arrived only in 2017 on the Izoard of Coppi and Bartali, in 2023 on top of the Tourmalet in the Pyrenees and in July it will propose Mont Ventoux, the giant of Provence, where Pantani won in 2000.

numbers

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Tomorrow the decisive day of the Giro Women: eighth stage, Rivoli-Sestriere, just 105 kilometers but 2800 meters of altitude difference, of which 1694 only on the Colle delle Finestre. In the standings, the Dutch Van der Breggen is in the pink jersey with 1′ on her compatriot Vollering, 1’24” on the German Niedermayer, 2’07” on Elisa Longo Borghini and 3’21” on Monica Trinca Colonel, the two Italians ready to break the bank: everything is still possible. Sunday then conclusion in Saluzzo (Cuneo). The climb of the Finestre begins just outside Susa: it’s a long one 18.5 kilometers with 45 hairpin bends, average gradient of 9.2% and peaks of 14% in Meana di Susa after two kilometers there are 10.7 km of asphalt with 33 hairpin bends (average 9.3%), then in the Il Colletto area, at 1456 meters above sea level, the dirt road begins of Colle delle Finestre, at 2178 meters above sea level, there will be 28 kilometers to go to the finish line in Sestriere: 11 km downhill towards Pragelato and then the final climb towards Sestriere, 16 km at 3.8% and peaks of 9% to reach 2033 metres.

environment

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These are roads of armies, leaders, emperors and pilgrims. Between palaces, fortresses and abbeys. The Finestre road was built in the 18th century by the military genius to connect the various fortifications: in fact at the top there is the Forte del Colle delle Finestre, built in 1891. Here the rock merges with the sky, this is the world of the eagles. You look up and the blue appears vertical. Nature awaits you, severe. There is no room for those who don’t have courage. Colle delle Finestre has no mercy. The wolf lives among the chestnut woods. The road is also hard. There isn’t even asphalt, but a dirt road that stops you with every pedal stroke. White road, like the stage of the pioneers’ exploits. The present merges with the legend of cycling. Color with black and white. And at the top, among those clouds, there is a pink dream that comes true.

precedents

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The men’s Giro climbed to the top of the Colle delle Finestre five times, always passing through: in 2005 the first to the top was Di Luca (Savoldelli pink jersey), in 2011 the Belarusian Kiryienka (Contador in pink), in 2015 the Spaniard Landa (Contador again in pink), in 2018 the British Froome, who after 80 km of escape wore pink in Bardonecchia, and the Australian Harper in 2025, when Simon Yates took Del Toro’s squad away with the decisive help of Van Aert. To have a technical reference, in the 2025 Giro the fastest to climb the Finestre was the British Simon Yates, who took 58’30”, at an average speed of 19 km/h.

first times

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It will be a historic day for the girls, who have shown that they absolutely do not fear any difficulties: one of those moments that will remain in the memory. On the contrary. After the first time on the Zoncolan in 1997 with Fabiana Luperini’s solo, on 10 July 2010 the American Mara Abbott won in the pink jersey at the 2758 meters of the Stelvio (the Cima Coppi of the Giro), the Bormio side: 21 km and 42 hairpin bends. On 7 July 2011, the Dutch Marianne Vos conquered the Mortirolo pass, Monno side (therefore Brescia side): 12.7 km. The same climb that owner Carmine Castellano had included for the first time in the professional Giro d’Italia in 1990: first at the summit was the Venezuelan Leonardo Sierra, who fell several times on the descent before winning at the Aprica. Five years later, in the 2016 women’s Giro, here is the Mortirolo doc, slope from Mazzo in Valtellina (13 km at 10%), that of Marco Pantani 1994: the American Abbott is still first on the summit.

in Friuli

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On 14 July 2018, another first: the real Monte Zoncolan from Ovaro (10.1 km at an average of 11.4% and peaks of 25%), the hardest climb in Europe, the one that always has a sign at the beginning that reads “Abandon all hope, you who enter”. In other words: welcome to hell. The organizer of the women’s Giro was Beppe Rivolta, from Brianza from Sovico, cousin of Felice Pulici (the goalkeeper of Lazio who won the Scudetto), who remembered those days thus: «With the Zoncolan a new era opens. It is the women’s movement that is asking the Giro to grow, and the turning point was also climbing mountains that were previously the exclusive terrain of men>. On the Carnia climb, the Dutch Annemiek Van Vleuten, one of the strongest champions in the history of women’s cycling, broke ground two months after Chris Froome’s feat in the professional Giro: imagine, she achieved the eighth fastest time overall between men and women. In that stage Froome (who would later win the Giro with the 80 km breakaway on the Colle delle Finestre) climbed the Zoncolan in 39’58” (the record is held by Gilberto Simoni with 39’03” in 2007): Van Vleuten climbed the 10.1 km climb in 48’08” at 12.59 km/h, with a Vam (speed average ascent) of 1,496 meters per hour. The Dutchman would finish 44th in the men’s stage of the Giro. To understand how much the girls wanted to overcome the Zoncolan obstacle, all 130 starters reached the top. The best Italian was Erica Magnaldi from Cuneo (12th at 5’43”): «It’s a brutal effort, which drains you, but I’m really happy». Sofia Bertizzolo, white jersey of the youth: “I reached the top in tears, but in my tears there was everything: anger, joy, emotion. We did an inhumane thing, we arrived on the Zoncolan, but we did it”. Elisa Longo Borghini: “The Zoncolan is a slow effort, which kills you little by little. It doesn’t give you breath, it doesn’t give you peace, it doesn’t give you joy”. This is why tomorrow the Colle delle Finestre will represent another iconic moment in women’s cycling.