[martinsynapse]

A rare “life window” has opened up that allows me to take a crack at riding the Stelvio from Prato. It’s a personal “New Years Resolution” I’ve so far failed many years in a row.

For those of you who awesome legends have done it in your middle years, what are you tips and advice?

About me:

– My goal isn’t to break any records, it’s to experience the wonder of getting up there. I’m going midweek August.

– I’m not an elite rider, I mostly commute about 3k miles a year but I’ve ridden the Ventoux (4x), Applecross and Mount Tiede from Puerto de la Cruz. They were hard but not impossible. I’m going to do reps on steep terrain in the coming weeks but recognise there’s too little time to truly move any needles.

– I don’t know that much about proper fueling, would love advice on how many gels would suffice?

(I got caught calorie-short on my last Ventoux ride when I added a bunch of miles via Saux and Gorge De La Nesque).

– Like the Ventoux & Tiede, I’m planning on bringing gloves, glasses and cycling jacket for a cold descent. What other specialist kit should I bring, if any?

– My low gearing is 34T on the front 32 on the back. Any risks of this not being low enough?

– Here’s the route I intend to follow: https://veloviewer.com/segments/15285259

Topic

[Pub bike]

Well done for getting up there. I’m surprised that you struggled so much though given that you have ridden Ventoux 4 times before but perhaps you had just lost a lot of fitness in the interim. There are three routes up Ventoux though and they are not all equal.

I did Ventoux from Malaucène again a week ago on my heavy touring bike (albeit with very low gearing) with 4 bottles of water and a small pannier at the end of a week long loaded tour and I pretty much drank all the water along with a whole packet of fig biscuits (unfortunately a supermarket own brand rather than Figolu!). It was an early and very quiet Sunday morning which was lucky because if I’d gone up the previous day I would have met a very large number of people from the Netherlands doing a charity ride.

[martinsynapse]

So, looping back to say thank you to all the advice in this – loads of it was super helpful, in particular the amount of water I needed (I bought a second cage but still had to refill 2/3rds up) and the fuelling.

As for the clumb I got up & did it, but damn I found it so hard. I am not fit enough for a beast like that but the opportunity appeared with too little time for serious prep.

I spent the entire ride having words with my ham strings about not ruining this one shot moment with cramps. Thankfully, they held off: just.

It’s such a hard ride, from the off. This is in part becaus my legs were sore from the Alpine hike two days ago: within the first mile I could quickly tell this was not “peak 2026” me. But I had a conversation with myself about playing the game that’s on the field. This was my shot.

So I had regular anti-cramp breaks & did the 48 switchbacks increasingly as slow as possible, saving everything for the “wall” section at the end.

I can’t remember a ride I was so uncertain I could complete it until the last 5%. But that’s why I’ve drove 1600km & over several mountain passes to be here: to try the hardest climb & stare into vast rock walls & receding glaciers at nearly 3,000m

[David W]

I’m guessing that you may have done this by now – bit late to the party sorry. Just in case you have not yet, or if anyone else reading is thinking about this, it’s definitely not the hardest climb in the world, just a very long one. The Mortirolo climb nearby was much harder. Stelvio from Prato has a few hotel bars on the way up, plus some safe to drink water fountains, so if you get your refuelling wrong there are options (I think that there is one of the Bormio side, but it was closed when I did that ascent). I did the Stelvio/Umbrail loop from Bormio, so by the time I did the Prato climb it was middle of the day hot (mid-July) and quite exposed, especially on the less interesting lower sections. I tend to grind my way along on a bike and managed fine on a 34/28 gearing, but would certainly have used extra low gears if I had had them. Stelvio was great weather when I did it, but the previous week had dropped to 4 degrees and sleety at the top, so always be prepared. I got caught in a freezing rain shower at the top of the Gavia pass and it was bitterly cold descending with sleeves, rainjacket and full gloves. There were more than a few cyclists I saw just in short sleeve tops looking absolutely miserable. Hope that you enjoy it, the descent on the Umbrail pass and route back to Prato via Switzerland was stunning and a real highlight of the trip. The mountain flowers are beautiful, and the roads are an engineering masterpiece.

[Pub bike]

Using hydration tablets in your water helps replace the electrolytes you sweat out or otherwise excrete so that under heavy exercise your nervous system and your muscles keep working normally apparently…

I used NUUN when I did Stelvio which were fine. Most recently I’ve used ORS. I can’t imagine there’s much difference between brands. Saino’s even sell their own branded version now. They all contain sodium, potassium and magnesium salts in small quantities. If you’re comfortable with SIS then maybe try theirs?

[martinsynapse]

Interesting, I’ve not used hydration tablets before, any you recommend?

I’ve bought some SIS BETA range gels because its a longer ride.

[Dnnnnnn]

As others have alluded, the Stelvio’s outstanding feature is its sheer length. Take it easy early on – the gentle slopes and excitement can tempt you to push it and leave you exposed later. Food and hydration will be important – doesn’t have to be fancy sports products but keep nibbling and sipping. As for gearing… it really depends on the individual but it’s worth having a spare gear you can keep spinning when you’re beyond your usual limits. And look around and take in all the magnificence!

[kevgravelkev]

There are a small number of perfectly safe water springs on the side of the road as you climb. Two 750mL bottles should be enough as long as you stop to refill.
I don’t know how well you climb but 34/32 would seem too big (for me at least). Shimano do an 11-36 in 11sp and 12sp and I would throw one of those on. I don’t believe you can ever have too low a gear.
I rode it in July last year and whilst the gradient rarely gets above 7% (some 9% bits but short) the 48 hairpin bends are mentally tough and it’s a decent distance to be constantly climbing (no flat bits at all).
In August you should be fine with a gilet and arm warmers on the descent if temps are typical. Check the weather on the day and go from there. On the day I rode it it snowed 30 minutes after I summited…
As for fuelling, I found it very difficult to ride and eat at the same time so I regularly stopped to admire the sensational views and ate then. I’m not a fan of gels so I took a big bag of jelly beans and spare energy drink powder.
Enjoy it, it’s brilliant. Don’t forget to buy an overpriced t-shirt at the top.

[Pub bike]

I have a bottle cage under the downtube which fits a 650 ml bottle but on tour I always have a 4th bottle in a pannier. Your case is different but strap-on bottle cages exist and one was reviewed on road.cc not so long ago. You can also get brackets that fit on the back of seat rails that take bottle cages. Decathlon at least until recently made a strap-on bag where you can hang a bottle on the handlebars.

I would also recommend using hydration tablets in your water.

[martinsynapse]

Oh that is very encouraging re Ventoux from Malaucène and great advice re the water. I only have room for two cages on my Synapse.

I once wore a MTB rucksack with a Camelback on a Ventoux ascent and I swear I got told off by fellow road bike riders!

How would you carry three on a bike?

[Pub bike]

Ventoux from Malaucène has some long 11% sections so if you’ve done that you’ll likely be fine on Stelvio as there is less than 200 m more climbing to do to get to the pass.

The striking and unusual thing I found about Stelvio with its 48 hairpins was that the sheer size of the mountain is visible from very low down on the climb which makes it seem truly awesome – but don’t let that put you off!

I did it on a loaded touring bike starting from Merano with a bottom gear of 22/34 as part of the Alpine Tour Léman-Adriatic (in reverse). On my way up I saw a chap on a road bike lower down who had too little water and who then ended up walking – so make sure you have enough e.g. 3 bottles if it is hot.

[Author]

Replies