Passo del Mortirolo (Mazzo) - Cycling Inspiration & Education
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- Joining the provinces of Sondrio and Brescia in northern Italy, the Passo del Mortirolo is the Giro d’Italia’s answer to a mischievous and often snow covered Passo di Gavia. Following a particularly legendary crossing of the Gavia in 1988, race organisers set out to find a suitable lower altitude alternative to take its place. Two years later and the Mortirolo was unleashed on the world for the first time, initially from the village of Edolo in the east. Descending down to Mazzo di Valtellina on a ridiculously steep road barely wider than a goat track saw countless crashes which got race officials thinking once more. Maybe it would be better to race up this way instead!? And that, as they say, is history and the true legend of the Mortirolo was born.
At 1,852m elevation and just shy of 12 kilometres from the official start line, finding your way out of Mazzo and onto the right road up the Mortirolo is a game in itself, often sapping precious energy that you know you'll need later before you even get going. With little in the way of views its erratic gradient and multiple ramps up to 20% can feel overbearing, throw in a dense forest to add to the suffocation and it’s often as much a mental battle as it is a physical war at times. It was on these very slopes in 1994 that the first glimpses of a young Marco Pantani were revealed, dropping the likes of Indurain, Belli, Bugno, Berzin, Gotti, Tonkov, Chiappucci et al on his way to stage victory. Today on bend 11 a monument to the Italian climber acts as a reminder of triumph and tragedy to a lost talent and troubled soul of cycling. It’s only with 3 kilometres to go that the gradient dips to a more respectable 10% for any length of time, allowing you to savour the moment as the trees finally subside and the summit comes in to view. There are plenty of longer and higher climbs in Europe but when attacked with vengeance the Mortirolo sits alongside the likes of the Monte Zoncolan and Alto de l’Angliru in its rebellious nature and difficulty. It’s for this reason that it is, and always will be, a true legend.
Start: Mazzo di Valtellina
Length: 11.4km
Summit: 1,852m
Elevation gain: 1,300m
Average gradient: 10.9%
Max gradient: 20%
Ridden in July
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This channel is my happy place.
Kudos on that colour-coordinated outfit! Climbed the Mortirolo in 2015 during the Granfondo Santini, one week after the Giro went over it. The stage winner's time was about 45 minutes, and my goal was to take double that time. I always thought of giving up but everytime someone who had already given up came towards me on their way back down, I deciced to go yet another bend until it somewhat "flattened out" and I was past half-way. It took me 80 minutes, goal achieved, but these were 80 minutes of constant pain (36/29 lowest gear may have been one reason for that).
Pantani was truly one of a kind. Thanks for highlighting his monument and speaking about his inspiration in your own life.
Whatever he did wrong, he was already a talent climber that cannot be said of others with all the necessary ....LEGEND
thx for nice announcement Kelly
COTTYDOR, so reminiscent of Alberto's amazing performance in 2015, one of the performances which inspires me the most. This channel just keeps on getting better
Now the gradient dropped back to 10 percent... Love that. Only people who had been there will relate.
I remember on a (much) shorter climb where the max gradient was 20% and much of it was 16%, that there were points that it suddenly felt much easier and i'd look down at my head unit still saying 11% gradient. Strangely confidence inspiring that was 😅
Thanks for the videos Mike. I lived in northern Italy for 3 years with the military but I'm now back home in the U.S. I miss the Dolomites very much. It's great to see my old playground again. Keep them coming. I've been to Bormio several times and ridden both Passo Stelvio and Passo Gavia. I did ride up the hellish Mortirolo with my bike but it was strapped to the top of my car's roof rack. The climb was insane and I was DRIVING UP IT IN MY CAR. It literally was the steepest climb i've ever been on in my life. I'm no mountain goat like Mike so I grind up every climb. My Garmin would pause and say I was not moving on a climb like that. I'm glad I drove it to say I've been there but I'm not sad one bit that I skipped riding it. And Mike is right, it's not the prettiest climb around because much of it is in the woods. You don't get the views like you do from Stelvio, Gavia, Giau, Pordoi, etc... Mortirolo is definitely beautiful in it's own way though. I love the challenge of climbing and I am no slouch. But the Mortirolo was just a step up in difficulty that would have made it NOT fun for me. But that's just me.
Done several times from Mazzo or Tovo S.Agata, but always during a race. When I used to get out for a training ride around there, I usually climb Gavia from Bormio and then Mortirolo from Monno, which is a real practicing climb, not hard as the other Valtellina sides.
I want to plaude to Mike Cotty, he climbed Mortirolo with an outstanding pace, very close to pro's. Absolutely great !!
That was a hard battle you won there, sir. Well played.
Awesome to watch painful to do.......brings back memories from a few years ago when I did the Mortirolo and Gavia in the same day!! Inspiring Mike thanks
any climb that has featured on the Giro get my seal of approval. thanks for sharing.
thanks for another inspirational video Mike, brings back al the memories from when I climbed the Mortirolo in the worst weather conditions possible back in July.
Good work Nathan! I've seen you slaying the mountains all season! Awesome stuff my friend! Mike
Nice tribute to il pirata I like how you gave one last glance back as you passed him
Grazie mille mike! It was your videos that inspired me to do mortirolo, your inspiration and ideas have taken me to many cols ,the nivolet and gavia just blew my mind.such well put togeather especially the music is such a good fit, i think you once said there is power in the mountains,so true.thanks to you i managed to do mortirolo,stelvio and gavia in one day,it was just a dream ....thank you SO much 🥰
Never give up, Dude. Your video always inspiring me.
If I have to say just one word about of this video. That gone be AWESOME.
WELL DONE AS WELL AND
CONGRATULATIONS
Climbed this one week ago, weather maybe a little warmer than when the video was filmed. A very tough and unrelenting climb, at least as hard as the (longer) Monte Zoncolan. Almost completely traffic free, in retrospect I loved it.
Great video.thanks for taking us to places most of us will never get to visit.
Well done again guys; I would call that spectacular views on that climb.
I always think about this video when the ascent gets really tough to push harder and keep going :) thanks for inspiration Mike !
Another great video. Very sharp kit too!
Loving the new kit Mike!!!
Thought I'd go BLUE! ;-)
Great video! I'm doing Stelvio, Gavia and Mortirolo in august!
Vai, vai, vai!!!
Me too. This film just makes me want to go and ride my bike a daydream of being Pantani.
Respect
Great video. Brutal climb, especially after 100k and the Gavia from Ponte di Legno
pieter riley ,glad it wasn't only Me who thought it brutal!
Lance Armstrong referred to the Mortirolo as the toughest climb he ever did and with that gradient I am not surprised. The road surface looks very good, at least. I can't imagine flying up it like this--Mike Cotty has even done it without his famous yellow shoes! Anyway, another great video of a legendary climb. And Happy New Year to all!
thank you so much to share these videos. They are amazing for cyclist !!
Fantastic ride!
Great video again, I climbed the Mortirolo 2 times, the last time I also climbed the Gavia at the same day, that was a great ride :)
Gavia after mortirolo is always good, you warm up the legs on mortirolo first.gavia is undescribable in good weather.i did the big 3 in one day,not because i wanted to, mortirolo kept me warm in the rain !
This is great. Have been waiting for this one for a while. Well worth the wait. You’re right it’s not a pretty climb but its beauty comes from the steepness and narrowness of the roads. It does feel suffocating in those trees, I remember just suffering in silence. Happy new year Mike!
Epic video!
Thanks for the video. Very inspirational, wishing it wasn't snowing this morning. Happy New Year!
I did the Mortirolo from Grosio in late June, and thoroughly enjoyed it, although I wanted to do the climb from Mazzo. Now I have another reason to return! ;)
Thank you for the motivation Mike !
Thanks Mike !! I love it !! a great video about a beautiful climb !! love the footage to Tirano , hope I can make it there with you someday !!!
I love the background sound of the Col Collective symbol... Just that sends me into transe... I know something special is coming.... your riding through the amazing mountains!.. Thank you for such a beautiful rides!..🙏🙏🙏🌺💖💐💐💕
Ridden by a professional standard racer. Mainly Forest with no view. Top few km open views. Steep parts. Might give it a try on FulGaz when I have satiated my appetite for Alpine classics. Thanks for the ride. Great effort.
Perfect timing! Currently planning a trip to bormio.
Love the videos. Always inspires me to want to push myself with these great climbs. I did Ventoux and went to Girona on the back of your vids. Keep up the great work 👏👌👊🚴🏻👍
Great video Mike. Mike is legend :)
I really loved that climb 😍
Incredible! This is first time I've heard Mike labor on a climb. Must be a really hard one!
Wayne W Bishop , it's brutal, not as steep as zoncalan,but it really saps energy,but the feeling at the top -beyond words!
Great video! One suggestion I would like to make is to leave the captions visible just a bit longer. Just for those non native English speaking people out there. I find I struggle to read the captions in time before they disappear.
Just a suggestion to improve on already great videos!
Point taken Willem, thanks for the feedback. Mike
Fabulous channel! Appreciate the chance to vicariously experience so many of the legendary climbs of the Tours and Classics that so many of us will never struggle to ascend. Top shelf production and editing. You're in great shape, Mike.
Beautiful country and for your posting of another awesome video not to mention the hard (work) climb ! I'd also love to see these in 4K? - Keep it up, HAPPY NEW YEAR and thank you.
MyR3 Thanks for your appreciation! We’ve made and uploaded some of the more recent videos that we filmed in 4K (one example being the Stage 17 Tour de France recon video), at the moment it’s massively labour intensive working in this resolution, not to mention the file sizes are absolutely huge. It’s happening though, bit by bit. Cheers. Mike
sensational climb. Beautiful to combine with Gavia. Alternatively, climb Mortirolo first from Edolo/Monno descent via Grosio and then back up the classic climb from Mazzo back to Edolo.
Your videos really are brilliant only came across your channel recently and loved every video. The angles & shots you use make it look like a huge budget video it is very impressive. I would love to do this climb and pretend I am Contador
Fantastic - all the best for 2018!
Beauty Mike. If I were you, I'd go with no bottles and rely on my film car to bail me out. Happy New Year
Unforgettable Pirata ♥️
Well that's gone from 'being on the list' to the top of the list. Mazzo side it is then...
Thanks for the film.
Nice vid, I did the Mortirolo from Monno this year (came down after the Gavia) and that side was so beautifull! Not as hard as this side, but so peacefull (only 1 car passed) and with good road but the last 2k were so hard!
I did it from Gavia too, I´ve heard this side /in the video/ is more difficult to climb..Cheers:-)
It is, it's on of the hardest climbs in the world, but I didn't want to up again after descending.
Fatti pochi giorni fa e spettacololare ,durissimo,ma quando arrivi e una soddsfazione
i did the mazzo climb from bormio, then looped back over the gavia, usually dont like em that steep but i must have had a good day :)
you can imagine that power Pantani had with 39-24 combo on a 27 °gradient climb...
Brilliant classy video agsin!
in Bormio now…
you may just have persuaded me to attempt it
Yay!!!!! How was it Steve???? 🐮
Try the mortirolo from tovo st agata, just off the main road, its the road to the cemetary! It was raced in the giro 2012 i believe,great views but crazy steep like zoncolan.
brilliant, love it
Thanks @mikecotty . I climbed this today.. won't lie it was super tough but wow what a beautiful climb.. your inspiration @colcollective work has inspired me to ride climbs that I never thought I could do.. thank you 🙏
Awesome video, but can you please leave the captions on screen a bit longer? I am so enthralled with the views that I sometimes miss what was showing at the bottom.
Amazing video...i love it, but this climb is really hell😩
Another stunningly beautiful video! (Interesting, though, that you never, ever see any cars. Do people just not drive on these roads? They don't lead to any destinations?)
On some of these roads the traffic is very light. On others it can be heavier, so takes some patience to get a nice looking shot!
How come when I climb these passo I have suckers passing me on wheelie with their motorcycle releasing so much Diesel it's like being in the middle of the traffic in LA rush hour. Every single video you make make me forget about these events that blew away the quietness of the nature.
There are no motorbikes running on Diesel!
Did the mortirolo from tovo st agata,the end bit is way harder than mazzo,just look for the cemetery at tovo , you join the main road at around bend six,last few kms are seated concrete with steel drainage chanels, I was smashed doing it,made me appreciate the classic route.
I did both like a snail. I think the Zoncolan is harder
An epic ride does not need to equate to surrounding beauty. The ride itself is the beauty.
It helps when you can watch stunning landsape around to distract you. You do climb the Mortirolo for the effort and the achievement not for the vista.
You should make a video about the Colle di Fauniera once. The scenery is really breathtaking and it’s considered harder than the Galibier and Stelvio with 22 km at an average of 7,5%. It was used in the Giro only once in 1999 and it's one of the most beautiful hidden gems of Italy, IMO.
Absolutely! We'd love to film the Fauniera, one day we hope! Thanks for the tip off! Mike
The Col Collective You're welcome !
3:24 really shows how strong Mike is !
"but i guess beauty shine from within"
really cool. Strong rider. What sprockets you use at the rear?
Inspiring video's, watch it before and I enjoyed it.... Watch if after I did the job and enjoyed it more!! Good climb to go "all in"... Not to long but the center 5k are terrible... Attacking as a amateur in the center 5k is selfkilling 🤗
... videos* (plural, no apostrophe)
this is the real Mortirolo!!!
Nice one, guys i have a question did you use special software to make graph in 1;55? :) Please let me know
Wish you would come out to san Diego ca.and do some climbs out here
when you get to the top and have to turn left or right, take the right turn and run along the ridge and descend back down, a good road limited traffic and so much more fun than descending the Mortirolo
Muy Bien Muchacho !! arriba Mike !!!
brutal; that's way above my pay grade now! mike, did you leave your cannondale at home, or was that one incognito?
Very good impressions of the route.
but:
Who else rides 80% at standing on the pedals , not sitting on the bike :-)
Thanks for your appreciation of the route. 80% standing in an 11 minute video, definitely not 80% standing across the entire climb! 😅
Alberto Contador likes to ride uphill this way.
Want to do the Gavia and Mortirolo next year, but take the ‘easy’ side. Too old and heavy for the steeper side :)
You could still do it
Is this Tom Last?
what size sprockets did you use? 11/32, 11/34?
Great question. Now I’d opt for a 34 to keep the legs turning. I think back when I filmed it was probably more like a 30 which definitely spiced things up! 😅
Confession... Pantani inspired me to juice :(
Great video as always! 👍
How do you decide which side of a pass to feature?
We'll try to pick the most popular side but in a lot of cases every side is popular so we have to do them all! :-)
I will be on a 32T no shame in low gearing lol
Jared Fontaine , have no shame in gearing or you'll have to walk,it's way harder than it looks,better to be prepared ,you'll actually do it faster! I'm 113kg and managed to do it relatively comfortably...
There is no shame in low gearing, you will make it and can do more in 1 day,remember contador did mortirolo with at least a 30 or 32 and he is superlight,spin to win! I cant believe i did stelvio gavia and mortirolo in 1 day, only possible with sensible gearing .
Show só faltou a luva da mavic
Pantani used 180mm cranks with those gears.
39x24 by pantani. Unbelievable....
What a candence 159 RPM. On this climb. So I can say Lance Armstrong is just little boy
can I do this with a 36/30 ?
Mathieu Van Acker ,if you are light and strong,yes,if not change to 34 or 32 at back,it's harder than it looks,the 10% bits look flat.also use energy gel with Guarana or caffine
@@superluvver3 don't think that's possible with my current rear derailleur.. must make some adjustments I suppose
Mathieu Van Acker ,ok I'm assuming you have a compact crank? ,if yes then check what is the smallest front chainring you can get away with. Otherwise you'll need a new rear derailleur, in my opinion oval chainrings work well-q-rings. With the mortirolo weight is everything,Mike cotty used a single bottle,I'm a big guy I needed 2 bottles,it can get really hot,consider using bathroom to loose a kilo! Also release rim brakes- found I was rubbing them,you won't need them on the way up,all the best!
@@superluvver3 went to the local shop and they said I can ride with a 34/52 at the front. Gives me 34/30 as lowest gear, I hope that will be enough.
Mathieu Van Acker ,that should be enough.
Please put in the video heart rhythm , speed and grade.
Thx !
39/24? That’s some strength. What was he 60kg. A little bit of hot sauce as well?
It was 39/25 which was Campagnolo's smallest-gear cassette back then. And MP had a competition weight of 56 kg.
Did Mortirolo from Grosio,the easier side ;)
always feels odd seeing you wearing colors other than yellow :-)
It's my stunt double ;-)
Marco
The Mortirolo is not beautiful, but it is a real challenge. I think it's the limit of what makes sense on a road bike. Steeper climbs, such as the Zoncolan, are no longer suitable even for trained cyclists with standard gear ratios.
Absolutely hate that climb!