Madonna di Campiglio

When you mention Madonna di Campiglio and bicycles, you can’t help but think of the champion from Emilia Romagna.  Pantani in Campiglio cut the finish line in the pink jersey after a sprint uphill of 5 kilometres. The climb starts in Pinzolo in Val Rendena, before the bridge on the Sarca river in Carisolo. To get to the top you have to pedal for over 15 kilometres.  The first are relatively easy, with slopes that do not exceed 6 percent. The road starts to climb more decisively about two kilometres from Sant’Antonio di Mavignola and continues along the same line for another 5 kilometres. It was on this stretch, a few kilometres from the finish line, that Pantani decided to attack and break away from the pack.  On slopes close to 7 per cent he managed to maintain an average speed close to 30 km per hour. No doubt the performance levels of a champion, but they give an idea of how the climb is cyclable, at a certain pace, even for amateur cycling enthusiasts. The uphill stretch ends with one last short tug. The last two kilometres, instead, are relatively easy. The slopes at the entrance to Madonna di Campiglio are around 2 percent. The pearl of the Brenta Dolomites appears in all its splendour: this is the realm of the mountain, of great climbing feats, of legendary mountaineers and of the memory of Marco Pantani.