Did you know that until just a few years ago, much of Switzerland’s major infrastructure – bridges, tunnels, roads and so forth – was packed with explosives, ready to be detonated when invasion threatened? The practice was a hangover from the Cold War, a time when irritable superpowers menaced one another with complete annihilation. How times change.
There’s a tortured analogy in here somewhere about a road’s hidden dangers, or perhaps something about blowing up when it all gets to be too much on a tough climb, but like every major tourist route in Switzerland, the Susten Pass is beguilingly perfect and largely free of jeopardy – legions of cars and motorbikes notwithstanding.
Supposedly the TNT has now been removed, but in any case, the Swiss are the one nationality I’d trust to leave bombs everywhere safely. No matter how extreme the scenery, riding here always gives you the feeling you’re in good hands. You are going to do battle with the supersized landscape, not the infrastructure, which is unrelentingly perfect at all times.
The western front
The heir to a 17th-century mule track, the modern-day Susten Pass road was built from 1938 to 1945, and inaugurated in 1946. It links the towns of Innertkirchen in the Bernese Oberland on the western side to Wassen in the canton of Uri on the eastern side. This is the western approach, which tops out at 2,224m above sea level.
Bu hikaye Cyclist UK dergisinin August 2023 - 142 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Cyclist UK dergisinin August 2023 - 142 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
The Mur de Montrose
Anondescript city centre shortcut to the shops is destined to become a classic climb when the superstars of the peloton ride it next month
Ventum NS1
Aracy road bike with more character than its looks suggest
Colnago C68 Road
The flagship has been refitted, but it's still very Colnago
Susten Pass
The supersized Swiss climb
What we ride
Behind every cycling journalist is a long history of bikes. Some come and go-test bikes, first bikes, stolen bikes, I'm going to get into BMX-ing now bikes - but some stay, for their practicality, their dreaminess or just for the joy they elicit. Here are three of the Cyclist team's personal favourites
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE
Over the past 12 years, Italian racer Elisa Longo Borghini has established herself as one of cycling's great all-rounders. She tells Cyclist about her sporting upbringing, how she conquered her self-doubts, and how she hates coming second
New view on Ventoux
It's possibly the most famous climb in cycling, but Mont Ventoux still has some surprises in store, including this route that takes in the stunning and rarely visited Les Gorges de la Nesque
All in the mind
The mental aspect of cycling can be just as important as the physical. Cyclist talks to two experts about training the brain for when the going gets tough
A moment in time Nicole Cooke tames Ventoux
In 2006, Britain's Nicole Cooke demonstrated her absolute dominance in a bravura performance on the Giant of Provence
Veni, vidi, Vinge?
Felix Lowe makes his predictions for the Tour de France