Cycling stops in Dolomites

83 places · 6 routes · South Tyrol, Trentino & Veneto, Italy

Nowhere else are the great climbs stacked this close together. Four passes ring the Sella massif in a single loop, and a rider can take all four before lunch: Campolongo, Pordoi with its Coppi memorial at the top, Sella, Gardena. The Giro has crowned more Cima Coppi winners here than anywhere.

The famous names are only the frame. What the roads pass are the rifugi that feed the whole range, the Ladin villages of Alta Badia where the Maratona starts each July, the pale walls that made this a UNESCO site in 2009, and a cake culture that arrived from Vienna and never left.

The war is still the terrain

The front line ran through these summits from 1915, and the engineering is what you now ride and walk to. Italian troops cut nearly a kilometre of tunnel up through Lagazuoi from the Cengia Martini ledge, and walking down from the hut today usually means walking through it. On the Tofana di Rozes, Lieutenant Luigi Malvezzi's men drove a shaft 500 metres into the Castelletto at up to thirty feet a day, then packed the end of it with explosive.

The smaller details are the ones that stay with you. At Forte Tre Sassi, left unusable by bombardment, the Austrians kept up the appearance of a working garrison to draw Italian shells, and a soldier there joked that the shelling cost the Italians more than the fort had cost the Austrians. Gun crews hid 210 mm artillery among the Cinque Torri and took their targets by field telephone from a spotter on Averau. Above Cortina, the Ossario di Pocol began as a plain cemetery where the 5th Alpine group buried its dead in 1916; the shrine came later, between 1932 and 1935.

Every name three times

Signposts here carry Ladin, German and Italian, and the order changes with the valley. The Pordoi is Jouf de Pordoi, Pordoijoch and Passo Pordoi; the Gardena is Ju de Frara and Grödner Joch; Sassolungo is Saslonch and Langkofel. It is not decoration: Ladin is the older language of these valleys, and the reason a pass can appear to have three different names on three consecutive signs.

The names carry their own information. Secëda comes from the Latin siccus, dry; the serrated peaks along its northern edge are the Odle, needles in Ladin. Croda del Becco is named in Italian for the ibex on its slopes, in German for the lake below it, and in Ladin as Sas dla Porta, the rock of the door, after an opening in its summit ridge. Piz dles Cunturines belongs to the Fanes epic, whose warrior princess Dolasilla rides into her last battle in silver armour carrying thirteen arrows.

Four passes, and the one that decides it

The Sella Ronda circles one massif over four passes, and a rider can take all of them in a morning. From Arabba the Pordoi climbs through 33 hairpins that tighten as the valley drops away. The Falzarego road is the last stretch of the Great Dolomites Road, opened on 13 September 1909 after nearly a decade of construction the Alpine clubs of Bolzano and Merano had asked for.

The Giau is the one that breaks the loop open: 9.9 kilometres and 29 hairpins from Selva di Cadore, and it has decided the Giro more than once. Fedaia held the race's first summit finish on the Marmolada in 1970, won by Michele Dancelli. Campolongo was the last climb of the 1993 loop stage from Corvara back to Corvara, where Claudio Chiappucci crossed it alongside Miguel Indurain. Further south the quieter ones, Manghen, Rolle, Valles and Cibiana, carry the same history with none of the traffic.

Where you stop

The rifugi are the culture, not the amenity. Lagazuoi is the highest hut in the Dolomites at 2,752 metres, its terrace facing the Tofane. Scoiattoli was built beside the Cinque Torri in 1969 by the guide Lorenzo Lorenzi and is still run by his family, named for the climbing group formed there in 1939. The Agreiter family have kept Scotoni for fifty years on Alta Badia's stretch of the Alta Via 1, grilling lamb and venison over an open fire. Fuciade was a barn on the high pastures above Soraga before it opened as a refuge in 1960.

Down in Cortina the habit is pastry rather than altitude. Lovat has been baking on Corso Italia since 1928, renovated in 2005 without changing what it makes; the Embassy a few doors along is known for its Sacher and its strudel. On the Alpe di Siusi, Malga Sanon serves South Tyrolean and Ladin cooking from a stube heated the traditional way.

Start here

Jouf de Pordoi - Passo Pordoi - PordoijochPass · 2239 mPasso Pordoi tops out at 2,239 m between the Sella and Marmolada groups, linking Canazei with Arabba on a road built in 1904 as part of the Great Dolomites R…Passo di GiauPass · 2236 mPasso di Giau reaches 2236 m through 29 hairpin bends between Colle Santa Lucia and Cortina d'Ampezzo.Passo FalzaregoPass · 2105 mPasso Falzarego, at 2,105 metres, connects Cortina d'Ampezzo with the Cordevole valley along the Great Dolomites Road.Passo FedaiaPass · 2057 mPasso Fedaia at 2057 metres runs along the north shore of Lago di Fedaia, an artificial reservoir dammed in 1956 and fed by the Marmolada glacier above it.Rifugio LagazuoiCaféRifugio Lagazuoi sits on the summit of Monte Lagazuoi at 2,752 metres, the highest hut in the Dolomites, reached by cable car from Passo Falzarego.Tofana di RozesPeak · 3225 mTofana di Rozes forms a three-edged pyramid above Passo Falzarego, its sheer south face making it the most climbed peak in the Tofane group and one of the be…Forte Intra i Sásc - Forte Tre SassiMuseumFort Tre Sassi was built by Austria-Hungary between 1897 and 1901 to guard the Falzarego and Valparola approaches against Italy, its fifty-man garrison also …Torre LavaredoPeak · 2536 mTorre Lavaredo, at 2536 m, sits on the ridge at the western end of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo group, between the Sasso di Landro and the Col di Mezzo.Rifugio ScoiattoliCaféRifugio Scoiattoli stands at 2,255 metres beside the Cinque Torri towers, built in 1969 by mountain guide Lorenzo Lorenzi and still run by his family, named …Secëda - Monte SecedaPeak · 2519 mGrass pasture runs flat to a sudden edge, and past the drop a row of bare limestone needles stands up clear of the meadow.Rifugio ScotoniCaféRifugio Scotoni is a family-run Alpine hut at 1,985 m in the Fanes-Sennes-Prags nature park, on Alta Badia's stretch of the Dolomites' High Route No.Pasticceria LovatCaféPasticceria Lovat is a pastry shop and bar on Corso Italia, Cortina d'Ampezzo's central promenade, open since 1928 and renovated in 2005 while keeping its Am…

Cafés

AlpiNN Food SpaceCaféAlpiNN Food Space is the bistro side of chef Norbert Niederkofler's restaurant atop Kronplatz/Plan de Corones, housed in a glass structure on the site of the…Bar Pasticceria EmbassyCaféBar Pasticceria Embassy is a pastry shop and café on Corso Italia, Cortina d'Ampezzo's main street.La Stüa de MichilCaféLa Stüa de Michil is the Michelin-starred restaurant inside Hotel La Perla in Corvara, run by executive chef Simone Cantafio.Malga Sanon (Sanonhütte)CaféMalga Sanon (Sanonhütte) is a family-run mountain hut on the Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm, Europe's largest high-altitude Alpine meadow.Pasticceria LovatCaféPasticceria Lovat is a pastry shop and bar on Corso Italia, Cortina d'Ampezzo's central promenade, open since 1928 and renovated in 2005 while keeping its Am…Rifugio AuronzoCaféRifugio Auronzo is a mountain refuge at 2,333m on Forcella Longeres, at the top of the toll road from Lake Antorno below the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, rebuilt in…Rifugio Da AurelioCaféRifugio Da Aurelio is a wood-built mountain restaurant at 2,175 metres, near the top of Passo Giau, opened in 1970 by Aurelio Dariz and run today by his son …Rifugio FedareCaféRifugio Fedare is a family-run mountain hut at around 2,000 metres on Passo Giau, kept by the Troi family and serving typical Dolomites cuisine.Rifugio FuciadeCaféRifugio Fuciade began as a barn on high pastures above Soraga, opened as a refuge in 1960, and sits in a basin below Passo San Pellegrino facing the Pale di …Rifugio LagazuoiCaféRifugio Lagazuoi sits on the summit of Monte Lagazuoi at 2,752 metres, the highest hut in the Dolomites, reached by cable car from Passo Falzarego.Rifugio Passo SellaCaféRifugio Passo Sella is the Italian name for the former Sellajochhaus, a CAI Bolzano shelter demolished in 2013 and rebuilt as a four-star hotel, completed in…Rifugio PralongiàCaféRifugio Pralongià is a former mountain hut turned restaurant and hotel on the Pralongià plateau above Corvara in Badia, reached by cable car or via forest ro…Rifugio ScoiattoliCaféRifugio Scoiattoli stands at 2,255 metres beside the Cinque Torri towers, built in 1969 by mountain guide Lorenzo Lorenzi and still run by his family, named …Rifugio ScotoniCaféRifugio Scotoni is a family-run Alpine hut at 1,985 m in the Fanes-Sennes-Prags nature park, on Alta Badia's stretch of the Dolomites' High Route No.St. Hubertus (Rosa Alpina)CaféSt.Ütia de BiochCaféÜtia de Bioch is a wood-built Ladin mountain hut at 2079m above La Villa in Alta Badia, run by the Valentini family since 1990.

Climbs, views & nature

AverauPeak · 2648 mAverau rises to 2648 m beside Nuvolau and Ra Gusela above the Cinque Torri, first climbed by Austrian mountaineer Richard Issler in 1874.Cima Bocche - Cimon de BocePeak · 2745 mThe rock is porphyry, not dolomite, so Cima Bocche belongs to the Dolomites by geography rather than by geology.Cima Undici - ElferkofelPeak · 3090 mJagged pinnacles, spires and towers stack into one steep ridge running north to south, cut through by narrow gaps.Cimon della PalaPeak · 3184 mRiders grinding up Passo Rolle spend the last kilometres under a peak the Dolomites call their own Matterhorn, il Cervino delle Dolomiti.Col di LanaPeak · 2452 mItalian and Austro-Hungarian troops fought for months over Col di Lana's 2,452 m summit during the First World War, earning it the name Col di Sangue, Hill o…Col RodelaPeak · 2484 mCol Rodella rises above Passo Sella on the southeastern edge of the Sassolungo group, reached by cable car from Campitello di Fassa or by chairlift from the …Croda del Becco - Sas dla Porta - SeekofelPeak · 2810 mThe wall standing over Lago di Braies in every photograph of the lake is this mountain, its north face rising sheer from the water.Croda del PomagagnonPeak · 2450 mCroda del Pomagagnon rises 1,200 metres straight above Cortina d'Ampezzo, the southernmost peak of the Cristallo group and part of the Ampezzo Dolomites Natu…Croda Rossa di Sesto - Sextener RotwandPeak · 2965 mRed rock gives the mountain both of its names, Rotwand in German and Croda Rossa in Italian.Forcella dei castratiPass · 2201 mForcella dei Castrati, at 2201 m, splits the summit plateau between Monte Piana to the south and Monte Piano to the north.Gran VernelPeak · 3210 mNothing on this mountain is walked up.Haunold Ostgipfel - Rocca dei Baranci Cima EstPeak · 2907 mPale, jagged rock breaks the skyline straight above San Candido, and Cima Est is the easternmost of the massif's four tops at 2,907 m.Helm - Monte ElmoPeak · 2433 mA border drawn after the First World War ran straight through the summit, and the roofless stone walls beside the cross are what it left behind.Jouf de Pordoi - Passo Pordoi - PordoijochPass · 2239 mPasso Pordoi tops out at 2,239 m between the Sella and Marmolada groups, linking Canazei with Arabba on a road built in 1904 as part of the Great Dolomites R…Jouf de Sela - Passo Sella - SellajochPass · 2240 mPasso Sella crowns one of the four passes that ring the Sella massif, connecting Val Gardena to Canazei's Val di Fassa.Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo GardenaPass · 2121 mPasso Gardena crests at 2,121 m between Val Gardena and Val Badia, framed by the Sella group to the south and the Cir peaks to the north.Kreuzbergpass - Passo Monte Croce di ComelicoPass · 1636 mTwo ranges meet on this saddle, the Dolomites to the west and the Carnic Alps to the northeast, and the pass itself is the line between them.Lagazuòi PiccoloPeak · 2778 mLagazuòi Piccolo, at 2,778 metres, is the lower of Mount Lagazuoi's two summits, reached from Passo Falzarego by a cable car that climbs in three minutes.Monte CivettaPeak · 3220 mThe north-west face drops a thousand metres in one sweep, and the 1925 line up it was long counted as the first sixth grade on Willo Welzenbach's six-tier sc…Monte CristalloPeak · 3221 mMonte Cristallo, at 3,221 m, is the highest peak of the Cristallo group northeast of Cortina d'Ampezzo.Monte FaloriaPeak · 2352 mMonte Faloria, reached by cable car from Cortina d'Ampezzo, hosted the men's giant slalom of the 1956 Winter Olympics on its Ilio Colli run.Monte MulazPeak · 2906 mMonte Mulaz rises to 2,906 metres as a prominent rock crest at the northern edge of the Pale di San Martino, reached over the Passo del Mulaz from the Rifugi…Monte Paterno - PaternkofelPeak · 2744 mMonte Paterno, beside the Tre Cime di Lavaredo at 2744 m, sat on the Italian-Austrian front line in the First World War.Pala di San MartinoPeak · 2982 mThe peak carries the name of San Martino, high in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.Parco naturale Paneveggio - Pale di San MartinoNature reserveAlmost forty percent of this park is integral reserve, where nothing but research and walking on foot is allowed; another half permits farming, and only a te…Passo CampolongoPass · 1875 mPasso Campolongo links Corvara in Val Badia with Arabba, the lowest of the four Sellaronda passes but no less demanding at up to 13 switchbacks.Passo CibianaPass · 1530 mMonte Rite rises above the saddle at 1,530 m, and the fort the Italian army cut into it between 1911 and 1915 watched the approaches to Zoldo and Cortina, th…Passo di GiauPass · 2236 mPasso di Giau reaches 2236 m through 29 hairpin bends between Colle Santa Lucia and Cortina d'Ampezzo.Passo DuranPass · 1605 mFrom Agordo it is 12.2 km at 8.1%, steepening to 14, and what waits at 1601 m is a skyline of Monte Pelmo and Antelao, the throne of God the Father and the K…Passo FalzaregoPass · 2105 mPasso Falzarego, at 2,105 metres, connects Cortina d'Ampezzo with the Cordevole valley along the Great Dolomites Road.Passo FedaiaPass · 2057 mPasso Fedaia at 2057 metres runs along the north shore of Lago di Fedaia, an artificial reservoir dammed in 1956 and fed by the Marmolada glacier above it.Passo ManghenPass · 2047 mCommercial traffic is banned from this road, and the ramps out of Valsugana touch 16%.Passo RollePass · 1971 mCimon della Pala spikes above the road and gets called the Matterhorn of the Dolomites, though Vezzana, hidden just behind it, is the higher summit of the gr…Passo San PellegrinoPass · 1918 mThe two summits flanking the road once faced each other across a front line: Austrians on Cima Uomo to the north, Italian trenches on Col Margherita to the s…Passo Tre Croci - Son ZuógoPass · 1809 mPasso Tre Croci, at 1809 m in the Ampezzo Dolomites, takes its name from a February 1789 tragedy: a mother and her two children died of exposure near the pas…Passo VallesPass · 2032 mPasso Valles tops out at 2,032 meters, linking Falcade with Passo Rolle and the roads to Predazzo and Passo San Pellegrino.Passo ValparolaPass · 2192 mPasso Valparola, at 2,192 m, links Alta Badia with the Falzarego pass and Cortina.Piz BoèPeak · 3152 mPiz Boè is the highest point of the Sella massif, the group's only peak above 3000 metres.Piz dles CunturinesPeak · 3064 mPiz dles Cunturines, at 3,064 m, is the highest peak of the Fanes group.Piz Pisciadù - Pisciadù-Spitze - Cima PisciadùPeak · 2985 mPiz Pisciadù reaches 2985 metres in the Sella Group, climbed from the nearby Pisciadù refuge in about 90 minutes.Punta Grohmann - GrohmannspitzePeak · 3114 mPunta Grohmann is the second-highest summit of the Langkofel (Sassolungo) group, just below the Langkofel itself at 3,181 m.Punta PeniaPeak · 3343 mPunta Penia is the summit of the Marmolada, the highest point in the Dolomites at 3,343 metres.Ra GuselaPeak · 2595 mRa Gusela is a sharp rock tower rising to 2595 m above Passo Giau, the second-highest summit in the Nuvolau group.Sas de PordoiPeak · 2950 mSas de Pordoi rises 2,950 m directly above Passo Pordoi, one of the southern ramparts of the Sella group's rock fortress.Sas de StriaPeak · 2477 mSas de Stria, the "Witch's Rock" in Ladin, rises over Passo Falzarego between Lagazuoi and Col di Lana.Saslonch - Langkofel - SassolungoPeak · 3181 mSassolungo, Langkofel in German and Saslonch in Ladin, rises to 3,181 m as the landmark of Val Gardena, formed some 230 million years ago from a tropical cor…Sass MaòrPeak · 2812 mThe Ladin name means Great Stone.SassongherPeak · 2665 mSassongher rises 2665 metres two kilometres from Corvara and is the local mountain of this Ladin village, dominating the valley below.Schwarzhorn - Corno NeroPeak · 2439 mA cross and a small Madonna statue stand on the bare rock at 2,439 m, high above Passo Oclini.Secëda - Monte SecedaPeak · 2519 mGrass pasture runs flat to a sudden edge, and past the drop a row of bare limestone needles stands up clear of the meadow.Toblinger Knoten - Torre di ToblinPeak · 2564 mToblinger Knoten is a sheer rock tower behind Rifugio Locatelli in the Tre Cime Nature Park, first climbed in 1889 by W.Tofana di DentroPeak · 3238 mTofana di Dentro, at 3,238 metres, is the second-highest of the three Tofana summits above Cortina d'Ampezzo, reached from Tofana di Mezzo by the Formenton v…Tofana di RozesPeak · 3225 mTofana di Rozes forms a three-edged pyramid above Passo Falzarego, its sheer south face making it the most climbed peak in the Tofane group and one of the be…Torre GrandePeak · 2361 mTorre Grande, at 2,361 m, is the tallest of the Cinque Torri, rising about 170 m of sheer rock above its base.Torre LavaredoPeak · 2536 mTorre Lavaredo, at 2536 m, sits on the ridge at the western end of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo group, between the Sasso di Landro and the Col di Mezzo.Weißhorn - Corno BiancoPeak · 2316 mThe Bletterbach Gorge opens below the ridge as a deep, layered slash in the plateau, dark volcanic rock at its base under bands of reddish sandstone.

History & landmarks

Basilica dei Santi Filippo e GiacomoChurchCortina d'Ampezzo's parish basilica, dedicated to the apostles Philip and James, was built 1769-1775 in Baroque style by architect Joseph Promperg, replacing…Cappella di San Giovanni GualbertoChapelThis wooden chapel at Passo Giau, built in 1968, is dedicated to San Giovanni Gualberto, the eleventh-century founder of the Vallombrosan Benedictine order a…Casa natale di Tiziano VecellioMuseum · Pieve di CadoreTitian was born in this house at Pieve di Cadore, and it is kept as a museum to him.Castello di AndrazCastleAndraz Castle sits atop a giant boulder that broke from the Settsass massif, built around the year 1000 to guard the iron road from the Mount Pore mines.Ciastel de Val - Ruine WolkensteinCastleCiastel de Val, known in German as Wolkenstein, has stood on a dolomite rock cleft at the entrance to Vallunga since the 13th century, guarding the passage f…Dlieja de San Durich - Pfarrkirche von St. Ulrich - Chiesa parrocchiale di OrtiseiChurchJoseph Abenthung, a master builder out of Tyrol, raised this church between 1792 and 1796, in a Neoclassical manner that still keeps some Baroque in its detail.Forte Intra i Sásc - Forte Tre SassiMuseumFort Tre Sassi was built by Austria-Hungary between 1897 and 1901 to guard the Falzarego and Valparola approaches against Italy, its fifty-man garrison also …L Ciastel - Fischburg - Castel GardenaCastleFischburg (L Ciastel in Ladin, Castel Gardena in Italian) stands between Selva and Santa Cristina.Ossario di PocolMonumentThe Ossario di Pocol is a war memorial holding the remains of 9,707 Italian soldiers, 4,455 of them unidentified, and 37 Austro-Hungarian dead from the Dolom…Stift Innichen - Collegiata di San CandidoMonasteryThe collegiate church of Saint Candidus counts as the most important Romanesque building in Tyrol and the Eastern Alps.TrostburgCastleTrostburg stands on a hillside above Waidbruck in the Eisack Valley, first documented in 1173 as the seat of Cunrat de Trosperch.

Climbs

Monte Bondone (from Trento)16.9 km · 8.1%Monte Grappa (from Semonzo)18.7 km · 8.0%Passo Gardena (from Corvara)9.1 km · 6.6%Passo Giau (from Selva di Cadore)9.8 km · 9.0%Passo Pordoi (from Arabba)9.2 km · 6.9%Tre Cime di Lavaredo7.7 km · 7.0%
NATURE
Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo Gardena
Hejkal, CC BY 2.5· Wikimedia Commons
Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo Gardena
Wolfgang Moroder, CC BY-SA 3.0· Wikimedia Commons
Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo Gardena
H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0· Wikimedia Commons
Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo Gardena
val-gardena.com (their website)
Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo Gardena
val-gardena.com (their website)
Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo Gardena
val-gardena.com (their website)
Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo Gardena
val-gardena.com (their website)
Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo Gardena
val-gardena.com (their website)
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Ju de Frara - Grödner Joch - Passo Gardena

Dolomites

Passo Gardena crests at 2,121 m between Val Gardena and Val Badia, framed by the Sella group to the south and the Cir peaks to the north. A driveway over the pass dates to 1915, built during the First World War, and the road forms one leg of the Sella Ronda loop with Pordoi, Sella and Campolongo. The Giro d'Italia has climbed it 16 times.

That wartime road ran from a narrow-gauge railway at Bolzano, through Val Gardena to Plan, then by cable car over the pass to Corvara, and on toward the fighting at Campolongo, Sella and Pordoi. A paved road did not follow until 1960, decades after that first crossing opened to wheels. The pass carries three names for the three languages spoken in these valleys: Passo Gardena in Italian, Grödner Joch in German, and Ju de Frara or Jëuf de Frea in the two Ladin dialects of Gardena and Badia. It returned to the Giro d'Italia route into Ortisei in 2017, when Tejay van Garderen won the stage while Tom Dumoulin defended the pink jersey he carried all the way to Rome that year.

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From riders

What you'll see

The road's upper half switchbacks through nineteen hairpin bends, with weathered stone fortifications and trench lines from the First World War still visible on the slopes above.

Worth knowing

The Giro d'Italia returned to Ortisei by way of Passo Gardena in 2005, after a 65-year gap, when the Colombian climber Iván Parra won with a late attack on the steep ramps.

Practical

The Sellaronda Bike Day closes Gardena and the other three Sella Ronda passes to motor traffic twice a year, in early June and mid-September, leaving the roads to cyclists from 8:30 am to 4 pm.

Checked 13 August 2026

Part of: Cafés at the foot of the climbSella rondaWwi history

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