strava
Whether or not you're into Strava, the community social training tool, you might appreciate this: somebody has gone to all the effort of compiling the Strava segments for the Giro d’Italia’s main climbs.
That includes the Passo Stelvio, Passo Gavia, Passo Giau, Monte Zoncolan, Mortirolo, Sella, Tre Cime de Lavaredo and Passo Pampeago. It’s no surprise that the leaderboards for each are headed up by professional riders - you’d have to be a damn good amatuer to get within range of a speeding peloton on these mountains.
The fastest time up the Stelvio, a 24km monster of a climb with a height of 2,758m and an average gradient of 7.6%, is held by American cyclist with the Astana team, Evan Huffman. However, while many pros do use Strava, and many of them American like Ted King for example, there's many more who don't. Still, it's an interesting look at how fast the pros can be expected to scale the climbs.
And, if you're heading to Italy this summer with your bike and you do use Strava, you can see how you measure up against the fastest times.
Castelli Battaglia in Montagna
If you’re not going to Italy, but do Strava, than you might be interested in Strava’s latest challenge, Castelli's Battaglia in Montagna. Castelli and Strava have set down the challenging gauntlet of riding the combined distance of stages 10, 14, 15, 19 and 20 from this year's race.
The total distance of these five stages is 813km and you have between May 13th and May 26th to complete the riding. Manage that and you’ll be awarded a Battaglia in Montagna finisher's badge that will be proudly displayed on your Strava dashboard for all to admire. You’ll also be able to purchase an exclusive Battaglia in Montagna jersey.
You can join the challenge here. Let us know if you're going to get involved. I'm tempted...
David has worked on the road.cc tech team since July 2012. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds.