.Just got back from Italy and we (Rob R-E and I) rode some of the route and one of the climbs, amongst many other long lumps.
Stage 11 may not be one of the biggies in the Dolomites but it has a fair old hill on it. The stage runs from Urbania to Cesena and takes in the Monte Carpegnia, otherwise known as the Cippo (no not that one
).From the map below we headed out from Riccione to pick up the route marked on here at Mercatino Conca. As you can see from the profile it is then just a long climb (was a long slightly rolling but mainly uphill drag climb at about 6 or 7% to Carpegnia.
The actual Cippo itself I think we climbed from the other side to the Giro but basically it's a very steep climb from either side and you just go over the top and straight down t'other - a complete because it's there climb as there is no where to go up there. The side we did started on a normal thin road. We hit this at about midday and I'd made the schoolboy error of not drinking enough
on the 3ish hour ride out there so suffered a bit under the sun. Rob got a rhythm going early on and did the climb well. About halfway up you then go in to a tree covered section to the top. Once here I was fine again, having started drinking and now out the sun, and knocked it up a gear or two. The rest of the way to the top was fantastic and should make some good viewing in the Giro. Although it's about mid stage the top half of the climb is on little more than a path (with lots of crack and pine needles on it).Oh yes and the gradient, the side we did the first 4kms are about 12-15%, the last 3 (on the "path" bit) are 15% to18% in the bends
The descent is a bit narrow, twisty and "squeaky-bum" too. We met a group with a guide at the top and followed the guide down at a nice sedate pace on the logic that he'd been there enough times to know the safest way down.On this day after Cippo we rode up to San Leo, which is staggeringly beautiful, before coming back over a couple more climbs around San Marino. One of my favourite days on the bike and a full 8 hour day on the bike with a couple of cafe stops thrown in at Carpegnia and San Leo to top up the Italian coffee levels.
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Another highlight was the climb up to Montefiore Conca. At the bottom of the approx 5km climb you pass a sign saying 12%, we thought, "okay a steep ramp coming up", the "ramp" lasted to the top. According to the map it has a 16% section somewhere on it but from the sign we passed the gradient didn't drop below 10% all the way up to the, yet another, stunning cobbled village at the top. We st down at a cafe and had a rather nice cappuccino which was delivered with a selection of small biscuits to accompany it
. The two coffees (with the complimentary biscuits) in this super location was under 5 euros and the owner gave us a souvenir postcard of an ink drawing of the fort in the village! What a rip-off eh .
