The most iconic climb of Italy tournament

[Bomby]

This is my first post, so I think it is good to present myself. I am Davide, from Italy. I started to follow cycling as a couch-cycling fan since 2004 (Cunego's Giro win!), and ever since I fall in love with the sport.

On the italian forum cicloweb, the most popular of the country, I organized a tournament named "La salita più iconica d'Italia", which achieved a very good success, with interesting results. Now I have in mind to propose to an international audience the same idea, for the curiosity to see if your opinions are different from those of the italians. This will give you also the possibility to discover (or realize) the quantity and variety of the italian climbs,
There is no commercial or advertisement interest, only pure "research", or interest in the opinion of other people who share my same passion.

The aim is to select the most iconic climb of Italy, not the climb which you like the most or the hardest, but the most representative, the landmark. The climb that you wans to see regularly at the Giro, like the Tourmalet or the Alpe d'Houez or the Ventoux at LeTour. The climb that is most representative of the spirit of Italy, or of its geographical area!

The mechanism of the tournament is the following.

1. The tournament is divided into three phases:
   1. Qualifications;
   2. Semi-finals;
   3. Final.
2. The climbs are initially subdivided according to their geographical location (e.g. north-east Alps, Central Appennines, South and Isles, etc.).
3. For each area, in the qualificatory phase, the users select the climbs that will be qualified for the subsequent phase. Since the number of climbs is very high (and I have mentioned only the most iconic climbs of Italy!), for each area it is possible that the number of polls will be grater than one (in the italian forum the eastern alps were subdivided into 2 polls, one regarding Friuli-Venezia Giulia and one Dolomites; each poll had 20 options, so 40 climbs were considered only for the first two episodes: there were 10 polls only for the qualifications).
4. The user can select up to 2 climbs per poll, and the two most voted will be qualified to the next phase. Since I am italian and since in Italy the rules are made to be broken if there is a meaningful climb that ranked third (or fourth!), in this phase it is still possible to promote it to the semi-finals.
5. In the semi-finals the climbs are still subdivided by geographical area, but their numbers are now reduced, and only the most voted now are still in race to be named the most iconic climb of Italy (by the international cycling fans). Here the rules of voting are still the same, but the selection is strict: only the two most voted pass, the others are eliminated. It is here that the Gavia surrounded to Mortirolo and Stelvio in the original tournament...
6. In the final, again the same mechanism, but here the only important thing is to win.

To raise de hype, here is the list of the climbs...

North-westerne alps
Cima Sappada
Monte Zoncolan
Monte Crostis
Matajur
Piancavallo
Cason di Lanza
Altopiano del Montasio
Nevegal
Monte Grappa
Montello
Asiago
Valpolicella
Muro di Ca' del Poggio
Fedaia+Pordoi (both the sequence of climbs and the individual ones)
Passo Manghen
Passo Giau
Passo Gardena
Plan de Corones
Tre Cime di Lavaredo
Passo Falzarego
Alpe di Siusi
Alpe di Pampeago
Passo Rolle
Passo Valles
Passo delle Erbe
Passo Sella
Passo Lavazè
Forcella Staulanza
Passo di Monte Giovo
Passo San Pellegrino
Forcella Cibiana
Passo Duran
Passo delle Fittanze
Pian delle Fugazze

Central Alps
Passo del Rombo
Madonna di Campiglio/Passo di Campo Carlo Magno
Passo delle Palade
Passo Castrin
Monte Bondone
Passo Coe
Passo della Mendola
Punta Veleno
San Valentino
Passo di Monte Giovo
Passo Pennes
Altopiano del Renon
Vetriolo
Val Martello
Passo del Tonale
Passo dello Stelvio
Laghi di Cancano
Passo di Gavia
Passo del Mortirolo+Aprica (both the sequence of climbs and the individual ones)
Monte Padrio/Valico di Santa Cristina
Forcola di Livigno
Passo di San Marco
Passo dello Spluga
Plan di Montecampione
Passo di Crocedomini
Passo Dasdana
Giogo del Maniva
Passo del Vivione
Valcava
Pian dei Resinelli
Colma di Sormano
Madonna del Ghisallo
Passo Daone

North-Eastern alps
Monte Ologno
Mottarone
Alpe Noveis
Santuario di Oropa
Bielmonte
Colle di San Carlo
Col de Joux
Cervinia
Saint-Nicholas
Col Tze Core
Col di Saint Pantaleon
Truc d'Arbe
Champremiere
Piccolo San Bernardo
Gran San Bernardo
Pila
Cogne Valnontey
Colle del Nivolet/Lago Serrù
Colle di Moncenisio
Colle del Lys
Monte Fraiteve
Finestre+Sestriere (both the sequence of climbs and the individual ones)
Montoso
Madonna del Colletto
Colle della Fauniera
Colle di Sampeyre
Colle dell'Agnello
Colle della Maddalena
Colle della Lombarda
Pian del Re
Colle del Preit
Colle di Tenda
Prato Nevoso
Alpe Segletta

Northern Appennines
Langhe
Oltrepo Pavese
Monte Beigua
Passo del Turchino
Passo del Faiallo
Madonna della Guardia
Passo della Bocchetta
Passo del Bocco
Monte Penice
San Pellegrino in Alpe
Il Ciocco
Abetone
Passo del Lupo
Corno alle Scale
San Luca
Monzuno
Monte Fumaiolo
San Marino
Colle di Carpegna

Central Appennines
Monte San Vicino
Poggio San Romualdo
Sassotetto
Monte Catria
Monte Petrano
Monte Amiata
Terminillo
Prati di Tivo
Campo Imperatore
Blockhaus
Muri Fermani
Muro di Gurdiagrele
Colli Albani
Ovindoli/Roccaraso
Forca Canepine
Frontignano
Sella di Leonessa
Forca d'Acero

South
Vesuvio
Monte Faito
Montevergine di Mercogliano
Lago Laceno
Campitello Matese
Valico di Montescuro
Aspromonte
Etna
Monte Sirino
Passo della Crocetta


If you are interested, let me know.
I'll post a new poll every 2 or 3 days; the maximum number of entries per poll is 10, so this will be a race that will end in correspondence of the first WT races in the month of july. To help you (I suppose that italian geography is not of general knowledge...) I'll post the climbs in geographical order, going from south to north.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I am interested, but will also call BS on any results that don't have Fedaia (FEDAIA!) winning.

 

[SafeBet]

I don't really get why Finestre and Sestriere aren't separate options but ok, I'm interested.

 

[sir fly]

I'm afraid Libertine's correct.
The Dolomites reflect the elegance and Marmolada tops the taste.

 

[Red Rick]

I am interested, but will also call BS on any results that don't have Fedaia (FEDAIA!!!!!!!!!!) winning.

That could not go unfixed.

 

[42x16ss]

Anything that doesn't have a final 3 with at least one of Madonna del Ghisallo, Passo Fedaia and Passo dello Stelvio is total blasphemy

 

[Sestriere]

What does a climb have to do to make the longlist and what's your excuse for not including the Poggio di Sanremo??

Also, I don't mean to be pedantic but eastern and western Alps are mixed up in your list

 

[BlueRoads]

"Since I am italian and since in Italy the rules are made to be broken if there is a meaningful climb that ranked third (or fourth!), in this phase it is still possible to promote it to the semi-finals." Is that so? And here I thought that was a cliché.

Personal Choice: Colle della Guardia

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3XhRysoFio


serious answer would be Etna or Fedaia. The Colli Albani and Aspromonte are not bad either, but don't stand a chance. Let the games begin!

 

[Valv.Piti]

Yes, very much. BTW FEDAIA IS TOTALLY OVERRATED

 

[Big Doopie]

No list without Colle del Nivolet:

https://www.cycling-challenge.com/colle-del-nivolet/

View: https://youtu.be/udoAzoCPpl8

 

[Red Rick]

Rifugio Altissimo

 

[Mayomaniac]

I have to stand up for Tre Cime, pretty much my training climb. It could be pretty much every climb around Cortina for me.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Of the climbs that regularly appear in the Giro...

• The Stelvio is the highest with its 2758 m peak, followed by the Agnello and the Gavia.
• The Zoncolan is the steepest with its 11.9% average gradient, followed by the Mortirolo and the Kronplatz.
• The Finestre is also worth considering. It's the only Giro climb with a length over 15 km that has an average gradient over 9%.

 

[Mayomaniac]

The Mortirolo probably had the biggest impact since it's introduction durning the last 30 years.

 

[Nirvana]

If we look at the history the first "big" climbs to regularly feature in the Giro were Abetone and Terminillo, the Terminillo was also the first climb used as MTT (in 1936).

 

[Bomby]

What does a climb have to do to make the longlist and what's your excuse for not including the Poggio di Sanremo??

Also, I don't mean to be pedantic but eastern and western Alps are mixed up in your list

The climbs were selected on the italian forum by me and with the help of the users. There were no particular specs: they must be iconic by themselves. The Poggio is a climb, but, well, a climb that also a sprinter can climb after 300 km of race... If I do not have messed up my calculations, there is still a place for the Poggio. If you insist, I can add it to the list!

Yeah, I made some confusion with east and west... in italian it was correct . Lost in traslation!!!

"Since I am italian and since in Italy the rules are made to be broken if there is a meaningful climb that ranked third (or fourth!), in this phase it is still possible to promote it to the semi-finals." Is that so? And here I thought that was a cliché.

It depends: sometimes is a clichet, sometimes not, and this sometimes is a good feature (we can be elastic), sometimes not (we are not so elastic). The usual clichet about Italy is pizza-mafia and mandolino: pizza is true, everywhere in Italy, mafia half way (unfortunately), mandolino seriously not (if you see a mandolino, run away as quick as you can).