Dolomite pass
Multiple climbs — one pass
The Gardena (2,121m) is an alpine pass in the Dolomites between Val Gardena and Val Badia, located between the Sella group to the south and the Cir group to the north, connecting Selva di Val Gardena with Corvara in Badia.
From a map, the Gardena looks straightforward — a single connection between Val Gardena and Val Badia. On the bike, it isn’t. What you ride depends entirely on where you start.
Most people know the classic version from Corvara:
- short
- structured
- around 9 km of steady climbing with hairpins and open views
But that’s only one version.
Approach it from the Val Gardena side, and it becomes something else entirely:
- a much longer mountain ascent stretching over 30 km
- irregular gradients, including sustained harder sections
- a climb that builds through a valley before it ever feels like a pass
And then there’s the Maratona version:
- just the final kilometers from Plan de Gralba
- shorter, easier, and mostly defined by the scenery rather than effort
All three lead to the same place, none of them feel like the same climb.
That’s what defines the Gardena: not a single ascent, but a pass with multiple identities depending on how you ride it.
It’s still one of the most recognisable roads in the Dolomites — framed by the Sella Group and the Cir peaks — but unlike most passes here, its character isn’t fixed.
It changes with your approach.
Giro d’Italia
The Gardena has been included in a Giro d’Italia stage 18 times since 1949, lastly in 2017, and it is also often combined with the nearby Sella, Campolongo or Pordoi passes.
In 2016’s stage 14, the Maratona course was included as a tribute the 30th Anniversary of the event, albeit with “only” one Sellaronda in it.
The Gardena has never been the Cima Coppi.
Corvara
From Corvara, the Gardena ascent is 9.2 kilometers at a modest average of 6.5% – it is a fairly even profile, but there are over 10% stretches and the steepest kilometer is 8%.
I’ve cycled this end once, during my Sellaronda of 2011 – you only get to cycle the Gardena in full in a counterclockwise Sellaronda.
Ponte Gardena
From Ponte Gardena, the Gardena ascent is no less than 31.2 kilometers long at a deceiving 5.3% average.
The maximum slope is 14%, the steepest kilometer is at 10.8% and the steepest 5 kilometers are at 8.1%. The hardest stretch is between Gasthof Stern and Pontives: 3 kilometers at an average of 9.5%.
As a consolation, my favorite cycling gear shop in the Dolomites, the Hero Mall, is in Selva di Val Gardena and it has been a stop during all my excursions in the area.
I cycled this end – in full – in 2015 after I first cycled the Passo delle Erbe.
Plan de Gralba
Compared to the whole nine yards, this stretch is hardly worth mentioning, but as it is part of a clockwise Sellaronda and the Maratona…
The 5.8 kilometers come with a net elevation gain of 267 meters. But as there are nearly 2 kilometers with no net elevation gain, the average of the rest still amounts to 7%, with a 9.3% stretch.
If you start in Selva di Val Gardena, that adds ~5.2 kilometers, for a total of 11 kilometers at 5.1%, or 6.3% without the flat bit.
