While the Tour de France may be cycling’s biggest race, the Giro d’Italia is the aficionado’s favourite Grand Tour, with more colour, more drama, more passion and of course more legendary climbs.
Among the 180 holidays that tour company Saddle Skedaddle offers, the ‘Giants of the Giro’ tour is the closest you can get to recreating your own Giro d’Italia and experiencing its mythical mountains for yourself. The nine-day trip packs in seven days of riding, each around the 100km mark with up to 2,500m of climbing per day. Starting from San Pellegrino Terme in the north of Italy, the route heads north and eastwards, taking in classic climbs such as the San Marco, Mortirolo, Gavia and the Stelvio. It then continues east and south through the Dolomites, visiting passes such as the Sella, Gardena, Valparola and Rolle. The final day finishes with an ascent of the mighty Monte Grappa.
It will be a test for the legs and the lungs, but Saddle Skedaddle will be with you all the way, providing route guidance and support, and sorting out meals and hotels. All you have to do is ride.
‘Giants of the Giro’ is not just a journey through some of the most beautiful and epic landscapes in Europe, it is a ride through history. Here are just a few tales of the climbs that have helped to make the Giro the grandest of Grand Tours.
Passo dello Stelvio
Day four of the ‘Giants of the Giro’ tour visits a true monster – voted number one in the list of ‘100 Classic Climbs’ by no less an authority than Cyclist magazine – the Passo dello Stelvio.
Perched on the border with Switzerland, it rises to 2,757m and on its eastern side boasts 48 hairpins. Whichever side you tackle it from, you’re looking at over 20km of climbing, with gradients rarely below 8%.
The Stelvio first appeared at the Giro on the penultimate stage of the 1953 race, with Swiss rider Hugo Koblet looking dominant in the pink jersey. However, four-time Giro winner and reigning champion Fausto Coppi had other ideas.
Koblet attacked first when the race hit the Stelvio, but Il Campionissimo caught and then dropped him, and ended up putting three and a half minutes into his Swiss rival to reclaim the pink jersey.
Passo di Gavia
Day three of the tour throws in the double act of the Mortirolo and Gavia passes. The former is short and brutally steep, while the latter is a longer, more mercurial climb, sometimes pastoral and welcoming, other times wild and merciless.
It certainly showed its savage side when the Giro d’Italia visited in 1988. Dutchman Johan van der Velde was first to the summit in the midst of a snowstorm, but on the descent he became so cold he climbed off his bike and actually started walking back up the mountain in search of warmth. Others had to abandon with frozen hands and limbs.
Better equipped with thick gloves and woolly hat was American Andy Hampsten. He attacked on the climb – images of him caked in snow are legendary – and took the pink jersey, which he held for the rest of the race. He remains the only American ever to have won the Giro d’Italia.
Passo Sella
Day six takes ‘Giants of the Giro’ riders to the towering limestone cliffs of the Dolomites and the famous Sella Ronda loop. The route includes ascents of the Passos Pordoi, Gardena, Falzarego and Valparola, as well as the most storied of them all, the Passo Sella.
It has appeared 14 times at the Giro d’Italia and witnessed battles between the likes of Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi, and Laurent Fignon and Francesco Moser. But it is Italian climber Marco Pantani whose name will always be associated with the Sella.
It was here in 1998 that Pantani’s status as a true legend was established. Starting the 217km stage four minutes behind GC leader Alex Zülle, he dropped his rivals on the slopes of the Sella to the tune of 4min 37sec to claim a race lead he wouldn’t lose again.
Two months later Pantani would win the Tour de France to become one of only eight riders to win both races in the same year.
Monte Grappa
Day eight brings the ‘Giants of the Giro’ tour to an end with a bang. The last item on the agenda is the mighty Monte Grappa, a near-29km climb with 1,546m of ascent. It was the scene of fierce fighting in both World Wars and on the summit is a vast monument to those killed on the mountain, where the bodies of nearly 23,000 soldiers are buried.
More recently, Monte Grappa was the showpiece of the 2024 Giro d’Italia, when on Stage 20 the peloton was required to climb it not once but twice. First time round a breakaway group of 11 led the way over the summit, but on the second ascent Tadej Pogačar, already wearing pink, went on to produce a display of raw power that would define the 2024 racing season.
He crested Monte Grappa alone and won the stage – his sixth of the race – by over two minutes, on his way to winning the Giro overall by almost ten minutes.
Saddle Skedaddle, ‘Giants of the Giro’ tour
Next available dates 16th-24th August 2025
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