Steeped in history

Monte Zoncolan is renowned as one of the steepest, toughest climbs of the Giro d'Italia. Cyclist sees what all the fuss is about

- Words Ewan Wilson Photography Joe McGorty

Google ‘Europe’s hardest cycling climb’ and Monte Zoncolan is bound to show up within the first handful of search results. It's quite the billing to have, and for any cyclist it's hard to ignore the challenge of ticking off the much-heralded ‘toughest climb of the Giro d'Italia’, which is why I find myself in the town of Ovaro in Italy's northeast, layering up under overcast skies and scanning the hillsides for any clues about what is to come.

In preparation, I dug deep on the internet for testimonials from fellow cyclists. I wish I hadn't. What I encountered were tales of pain and hardship that would rival a Dickens novel, backed up by statistics telling of sustained average gradients of over 12% for more than 10km, with some sections spiking above 20%. The Zoncolan's numbers are alien to the average cafe ride or Sunday spin, and as we set off I can’t help but feel there are some occasions when it's better to live in ignorance.

The gates of hell

Following the flow of the Degano River, Scott - my ride companion for the day - and I warm up our legs with a brief roll into town, knowing well that there is very little preamble before hitting the test we’re almost too nervous to acknowledge. In fact, no sooner have we turned off the main road through town than we pass under a wooden arch stretching across the road like an archer’s bow to indicate that we are now at the start of the climb.

The church displays the steepness of the road by requiring concrete stilts to stop it tumbling down the hillside