Passo Giau (from Selva di Cadore)
Climb · Dolomites
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Passo Giau (from Selva di Cadore) is a 9.8 km cycling climb averaging 9.0% (+882 m), rising from 1336 m to 2218 m in Dolomites.
9.8 km · +882 m · 9.0% avg · ~12.3% max · 1336 → 2218 m · 23 hairpins
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
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Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 500 m: 12.5% (km 6.5–6.8).
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1436 m | 10.1% |
| 2 | 1515 m | 8.5% |
| 3 | 1591 m | 9.1% |
| 4 | 1706 m | 9.3% |
| 5 | 1791 m | 8.9% |
| 6 | 1873 m | 8.7% |
| 7 | 1974 m | 9.4% |
| 8 | 2060 m | 8.7% |
| 9 | 2154 m | 9.7% |
What it’s like to ride
Just under ten kilometres out of Selva di Cadore the road lifts about 900 metres and gives almost nothing back: 9.3% average, ramps to 14%, and 29 hairpins counted down on roadside signs. The first seven kilometres run through fir and spruce beside the Codalonga stream, through three short avalanche galleries, with fountains to fill a bottle around the fifth and sixth kilometre. At roughly hairpin 18 the trees stop and the climb opens into high pasture under the towers of Nuvolau and Averau, which stay in view for the rest of the way up, and the gradient does not ease with the scenery. Rifugio Fedare arrives at hairpin 21 with 2.5 km left, Ristorante da Aurelio marks the final kilometre, and the pass at 2,236 m has a refuge and a hotel terrace where you can sit and look back down at what you just rode. The descent north to Pocol and Cortina d'Ampezzo runs 17 km.
History
Before the modern road, the pass was crossed only by a mule track linking Colle Santa Lucia and Selva di Cadore; the road was raised to state-highway status as the SS638 by ministerial decree on 19 August 1971, passed from ANAS to the Veneto Region in 2001, and has been run by Veneto Strade since 2002. The Giro d'Italia first came over the summit in 1973, when Jose Manuel Fuente led the race across on the Andalo to Auronzo stage. The day riders replay is 2021: with Pordoi and Fedaia cut from stage 16 for weather, the Giau became that year's Cima Coppi, and Egan Bernal attacked in the maglia rosa halfway up this side in freezing cloud, holding around 30 seconds over Damiano Caruso and Romain Bardet all the way down the descent into Cortina d'Ampezzo. It was Cima Coppi again on stage 19 of the 2026 Giro, Giulio Ciccone first over the top, on a Feltre to Alleghe queen stage won by Sepp Kuss. Since 1988 the Maratona dles Dolomites granfondo has used this ascent as the sixth and steepest of its seven passes.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Dolomites
Common questions
- How long and steep is Passo Giau (from Selva di Cadore)?
- Passo Giau (from Selva di Cadore) is a 9.8 km cycling climb averaging 9.0% (+882 m), rising from 1336 m to 2218 m in Dolomites.
- Where is Passo Giau (from Selva di Cadore) steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 12.5%, between km 6.5 and km 6.8 of the climb.
- How many hairpins does Passo Giau (from Selva di Cadore) have?
- Passo Giau (from Selva di Cadore) has 23 hairpin bends, counted from the road's map geometry (a hairpin here means at least 150 degrees of turning completed within 150 metres of road). Painted corner numbers on some climbs count gentler bends too, so the two figures can differ.