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.