Passo Pordoi (from Arabba)
Climb · Dolomites
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Passo Pordoi (from Arabba) is a 9.2 km cycling climb averaging 6.9% (+632 m), rising from 1612 m to 2244 m in Dolomites.
9.2 km · +632 m · 6.9% avg · ~9.3% max · 1612 → 2244 m · 24 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: 9.4% (km 0.7–1.1).
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1678 m | 7.0% |
| 2 | 1750 m | 7.3% |
| 3 | 1828 m | 7.5% |
| 4 | 1888 m | 6.4% |
| 5 | 1956 m | 6.3% |
| 6 | 2020 m | 6.9% |
| 7 | 2093 m | 6.9% |
| 8 | 2151 m | 6.3% |
| 9 | 2232 m | 7.5% |
What it’s like to ride
From Arabba the road leaves the village at 1,601 m and is above the trees almost at once, so the whole 9.2 km at around 7% is ridden in the open, across pasture and low scrub. The first 3.5 km set a rhythm of long straights broken by short groups of bends, and then the road stacks 22 hairpins into 4.5 km, roughly one every 200 metres, with the gradient holding close to constant instead of kicking; nothing on it is steeper than about 9%. That makes the wind the real variable rather than the slope, and the last 2.5 km to the top are fully exposed. Fill up at the fountain by the church in Arabba, because there is nothing between there and the summit. At 2,239 m the pass is a small settlement of bars and hotels with a monument to Fausto Coppi, a small museum of the First World War, and the cable car that has lifted people to the 2,950 m terrace of Sass Pordoi since 1962.
History
The road over the pass belongs to the Great Dolomites Road, a scheme driven by the tourism promoter Theodor Christomannos and backed by the Austro-Hungarian government, begun in May 1901 to open the valleys between Bolzano and Cortina d'Ampezzo to international tourism; an obelisk raised at the pass in 1905 commemorates the work, and the last section, Arabba to Cortina, was inaugurated on 13 September 1909. The Giro d'Italia first crossed the Pordoi in 1940 and has been back 39 times in all, naming it Cima Coppi, the highest point of the race, on 13 occasions, more than any other climb, with four stage finishes at the summit. That first visit, stage 17 from Pieve di Cadore to Ortisei, reached the pass from Arabba after the Falzarego: Coppi was in trouble low on the climb and looked ready to quit, and Bartali waited for him and threw snow at him to get him going again, then won the stage in Ortisei. In 1947 the race took the same approach, and on switchbacks that were still unpaved Coppi attacked, dropped Bartali and ended the day in the pink jersey with more than four minutes gained. The climb is now the second pass of the Maratona dles Dolomites and part of the Sellaronda loop.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Dolomites
Common questions
- How long and steep is Passo Pordoi (from Arabba)?
- Passo Pordoi (from Arabba) is a 9.2 km cycling climb averaging 6.9% (+632 m), rising from 1612 m to 2244 m in Dolomites.
- Where is Passo Pordoi (from Arabba) steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 9.4%, between km 0.7 and km 1.1 of the climb.
- How many hairpins does Passo Pordoi (from Arabba) have?
- Passo Pordoi (from Arabba) has 24 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.