Gavia Pass ( it, Passo di Gavia) (el. 2621 m.) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in the Italian

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. It is the tenth highest paved road in the Alps. The pass lies in the

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

region and divides the province of Sondrio to the north and the province of

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

to the south. The road over the pass (SS 300) connects

Bormio Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellina ...

to the northwest with

Ponte di Legno Ponte di Legno ( Camunian: ) is an Italian ''comune'' of 1,729 inhabitants in Val Camonica, province of Brescia, in Lombardy. Geography Situated at the confluence of the two source rivers of the Oglio, Ponte di Legno is the uppermost comune of V ...

to the south and is single track most on its southern section.

Climbing around Gavia Pass

There are many peaks to climb around. Directly above the pass on its east side is

Corno dei Tre Signori Corno dei Tre Signori is a mountain in Lombardy, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its te ...

(3360 m) and next to it Monte Gaviola (3025). On the other side of the road raises

Monte Gavia Monte Gavia is a mountain of the Sobretta-Gavia Group in Lombardy, Italy. It has an elevation of 3,223 metres and towers above the Gavia Pass Gavia Pass ( it, Passo di Gavia) (el. 2621 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Italian Alp ...

(3223 m). By continuing along the road in the direction of Bormio, after less than 3 km, one arrives at the monument from where routes start for the

Punta San Matteo Punta San Matteo is a secondary peak of Ortler-Vioz in the Ortler Alps, at the border between the Province of Sondrio (Lombardy region) and Trentino (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region) in northern Italy. It was the scene of the Battle of San ...

(3678 m) group. The group includes Pizo Tresero (3594 m), Punta Pendranzini (3599), Cima Dosegu (3560) and several others.

Huts

There are several huts around. Rifugio Bonetta is directly on the Pass, and very close to the monument is Rifugio A. Berni. High in the mountains you have Bivacco Seveso at 3398 m, directly below the summit of Tresero. Yet another refuge below Cima di val Umbrina (3220) is Bivacco Battaglione Ortles at 3122 m.

Giro d'Italia

The Gavia Pass is often on the route of the Giro d'Italia

road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

and is sometimes designated the ''

Cima Coppi The ''Cima Coppi'' is the title given to the highest peak in the yearly running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The mountain that is given this title each year awards more mountains classification points to the first rider ...

'', the highest point of the race. On 5 June 1988, the race passed over the Gavia in a snowstorm, making for an epic stage won by

Erik Breukink Erik Breukink (born 1 April 1964) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist. In 1988, Breukink won the youth competition in the Tour de France. In 1990, finished 3rd in the 1990 Tour de France. Most recently, he served as the manager o ...

. American Andrew Hampsten, the second-place finisher, became the overall race leader and went on to win the Giro.

Appearances in Giro d'Italia (since 1960)

Gallery

Image:Gavia_Pass,_Lombardy,_Italy_(July_4_2004).jpg, The lake near the pass Image:Gavia.jpg, Road on the southern side

External links

Profile on climbbybike.comMap, photos, cycling profile for both sides

Gavia Pass Gavia Pass ( it, Passo di Gavia) (el. 2621 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Italian Alps. It is the tenth highest paved road in the Alps. The pass lies in the Lombardy region and divides the province of Sondrio to the north and the p ...