Monte Zoncolan () is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
in the
Carnic Alps, located in the region of
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
(man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman)
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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 territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, with an elevation of . It is one of the most demanding climbs in professional
road bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...
, having been used in the
Giro d'Italia seven times (2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2021) and the
Giro d'Italia Femminile
The is an annual elite women's road bicycle racing stage race. It was rebranded from 2013-2020 as the Giro Rosa, having been branded the Giro Donne until 2012 and again in 2021. It has been considered the most prestigious stage race in women's roa ...
twice (1997, 2018).
Gilberto Simoni was the winner of the first two stages finishing on Monte Zoncolan in the men's Giro while
Ivan Basso won in 2010,
Igor Antón won in 2011,
Michael Rogers won in 2014 and
Fabiana Luperini
Fabiana Luperini (born 14 January 1974) is an Italian professional cyclist. She was born in ', Italy. Luperini has won the ' a record five times, with four consecutive victories in 1995–1998 and a fifth ten years later, in 2008. She has won th ...
won at the first visit in the women's race. Chris Froome won the stage in 2018 Giro d'Italia (stage 14).
The mountain also holds the ski resort of
Ravascletto with 22 km of slopes and a skiable height between 950 and 2000 m.
Details of the climb
The mountain can be climbed on three roads: one from
Ovaro, another from
Sutrio
Sutrio ( fur, Sudri) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about northwest of Udine. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,392 and a ...
, and a third from
Priola
Priola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Cuneo.
Priola borders the following municipalities: Bagnasco, Calizzano, Garessio, and Viola
...
.
*West from Ovaro: This is a very demanding climb, and one of the most difficult in Europe, usually compared to the
Alto de El Angliru. It was featured for the first time in the
2007 Giro d'Italia
The 2007 Giro d'Italia was the 90th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place from 12 May to 3 June 2007. The race began in Sardinia and finished in Milan, and featured five mountain top finishes, of which one wa ...
. The climb starts in Ovaro in the Gorto valley, and is long at an average of 11.9% with an elevation gain of and a maximum gradient of 22%. The real climb however starts at Liariis, from the summit. Shortly after the village, the road disappears into forest and gains in the next , averaging thus 15%. After this section, the road passes through three short tunnels, before a series of steep switchbacks immediately beneath the summit. The former rough asphalt between Liariis and the tunnels was replaced in 2007; that between the last tunnel and the summit had already been resurfaced by autumn 2005. The tunnels are now lit.
*East from Sutrio: This route is less demanding than the road from Ovaro but it is also one of Italy's most challenging climbs. It was featured for the first time in the 1997
Giro Donne and later in the
2003 Giro d'Italia
The 2003 Giro d'Italia was the 86th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro began in Lecce with a mass-start stage. The race came to a close with a individual time trial that began and ended in the Italian city ...
. The actual climb to the summit starts at Sutrio and is long at an average of 9% with an elevation gain of and a maximum gradient being 23%. The first have an average gradient of 8.7%, followed by a false flat after this section. The most demanding section is the final with an average gradient of 13% and the initial part of the final kilometre at 22% grade.
*East from Priola: This is the original old road which was replaced by the newer road from Sutrio described above. The two roads combine around below the summit. The road from Priola was first asphalted in autumn 2005. From bottom to top, the long road gains , meaning an average gradient of 12.8%. The lower part has sharp hairpin bends and is at times very steep. The climb is briefly flat after merging with the newer road, with the remaining containing several ramps of up to 23% steepness.
Giro d'Italia
Monte Zoncolan has been featured in the men's Giro d'Italia seven times so far. The first time was in the 12th stage of the
2003 Giro d'Italia
The 2003 Giro d'Italia was the 86th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro began in Lecce with a mass-start stage. The race came to a close with a individual time trial that began and ended in the Italian city ...
, won by
Gilberto Simoni, using the road from Sutrio, at the east side of Monte Zoncolan. It was also the last time that
Marco Pantani
Marco Pantani (; 13 January 1970 – 14 February 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely regarded as the greatest climbing specialist in the history of the sport by measures of his legacy, credits from other riders, and records. He rec ...
was seen fighting for a stage victory in the Giro d'Italia, launching an unsuccessful attack 3 kilometres from the finish line and finishing in the fifth place, forty-two seconds behind Simoni.
Prior to this edition, the climb was used in 10th stage of the 1997
Giro Donne, where
Fabiana Luperini
Fabiana Luperini (born 14 January 1974) is an Italian professional cyclist. She was born in ', Italy. Luperini has won the ' a record five times, with four consecutive victories in 1995–1998 and a fifth ten years later, in 2008. She has won th ...
won en route to the third of her five overall victories.
Monte Zoncolan was featured for a second time in 17th stage of the
2007 Giro d'Italia
The 2007 Giro d'Italia was the 90th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place from 12 May to 3 June 2007. The race began in Sardinia and finished in Milan, and featured five mountain top finishes, of which one wa ...
, also won by Gilberto Simoni, but this time using the more demanding road from Ovaro. The climb featured once again in the 15th stage of the
2010 Giro d'Italia
The 2010 Giro d'Italia was the 93rd edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race started off in Amsterdam on 8 May and stayed in the Netherlands for three stages, before leaving the country. The route included climbs ...
and
Ivan Basso won the stage, that would eventually prove to be the deciding stage of that year's Giro d'Italia. Zoncolan featured in the
2011 Giro d'Italia
The 2011 Giro d'Italia was the 94th Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race started on 7 May with a team time trial in Turin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, when the city served as the first capital of t ...
, during the 14th stage, which was won by Igor Antón, followed by Alberto Contador and Vincenzo Nibali. The Zoncolan was featured was in the
2014 Giro d'Italia
The 2014 Giro d'Italia was the 97th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races.
The race started off in Belfast, on 9 May, with a team time trial and concluded in Trieste, on 1 June, with a flat stage. A total of 198 r ...
, during the 20th stage, which was won by Michael Rogers. Most recently, stage 14 of the
2018 Giro d'Italia
The 2018 Giro d'Italia was the 101st edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour races. The race started in Jerusalem on 4 May, with a individual time trial followed by two additional stages within Israel. Af ...
finished with dramatic, brutal climb up the Zoncolan from Ovaro. It was
Chris Froome
Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de ...
's first stage win of the 2018 Giro.
Winners of Monte Zoncolan stage at the Giro d'Italia
Winners of Monte Zoncolan stage at the Giro d'Italia Femminile
References
External links
The Zoncolan skiing centrePhotos, information and elevation profile for climb from Ovaro at altimetrias.net(Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoncolan, Monte
Mountains of Italy
Geography of Friuli-Venezia Giulia