The Mortirolo Pass – old name Passo della Foppa – links the Val Camonica and Valtellina valleys.

It is a much dreaded, steep climb, with a summit at 1,852 meters and it used to be the favorite mountain of Marco Pantani.

“If you want to die, this is where you go” – encouraging words, often found when reading reports about this climb.

It is, however, nowhere near as bad as the Monte Zoncolan…

Giro d’Italia

(The UCI Pro event, not mine 😂)

The Mortirolo Pass featured 16 times in a Giro d’Italia stage since 1990 and in 2025, it will be in a Giro stage for the 17th time.

The first time was in 1990’s stage 15, between Morbegno and Aprica, featuring the Monno ascend.

The Monno ascend was included 4 times, the Mazzo ascend 11 times and the Tovo di Sant’Agata ascend once.

The 2025 Mortirolo ascend will be the 5th from Monno, but via the Recta Contador – this is described as a “bonus option” in the profile below.

The Mortirolo Mazzo ascend in the Giro made such a name, that the Vuelta felt the need to respond and find something harder.

As a result, the Angliru was introduced.

Not in the least disheartened, the Giro retaliated by introducing the Monte Zoncolan…

Cima Pantani and Pantani Memorial

Since the death of Marco Pantani in 2004, stages of the Giro that go over the Mortirolo Pass feature a special prize.

This is called the Cima Pantani, awarded to the first rider at the summit.

One of the monuments¹ to commemorate Marco Pantani is also on the Mortirolo Pass.

Erected in 2006, high on a wall in hairpin 11, the sculpture shows Pantani in his classic attacking position.

He’s looking back over his left shoulder, assessing the damage he’s done…

The Profiles

First, here are the three ‘more famous’ alternatives of the Mortirolo Pass.

But there are quite a few ways to the top of the Mortirolo, some of which are no more than goat paths.

I mention a few of them below these standard profiles.

Mortirolo from Mazzo di Valtellina

This most frequently traveled ascend is 12.2 km long from Mazzo, in which you’ll gain 1,326 meters.

That’s an average of 10.8% and the steepest 100-meter stretch is 17.7%

It’s during this climb that you will pass the Pantani monument in hairpin 11, about four kilometers from the summit.

The summit (now) has a bathroom container to freshen up a bit and the current monument is a lot nicer than the worn-out wooden one that was there when I first visited the Mortirolo.

If you would like a drink or a bite, then ride on down towards Monno.

Bonus: the other ascend from Mazzo, via the Via Orti, is even harder than this one: 11.3 kilometers at 11.6%.

Mortirolo from Grosio

There are two alternatives “from Grosio”.

There’s a route that starts between Tiolo and Grosio; if you come from Bormio, you’ll see a clear sign “Passo Mortirolo”.

This one is 13.7 kilometers long with an elevation gain of 1,173 meters, or an 8.6% average.

It has a steepest 100-meter section at 20.2% which you won’t find in the other routes…

The other Grosio route up the Mortirolo is a little harder to find: follow the main road until you pass the Grosio city sign and then turn left towards Sondrio.

After some 500 meters, there’s a narrow bridge on your left, the start of this Mortirolo route.

About 1 kilometer in, there’s a bifurcation: turning left will join the Tiolo route, so keep right for the Grosio route.

It is harder than the Tiolo route: 12 kilometers and 1,190 meters of elevation, a 9.9% average.

Both alternatives join the one from Mazzo at hairpin 8, some 3 kilometers before the summit.

When descending from the summit towards Grosio, you’ll end up at the start of the first route…

And the Mortirolo from Edolo (Monno)

From the (south) east you can tackle the Mortirolo Pass from Edolo.

You can use the first 4.5 kilometers from Edolo to the Monno turn as a good warm up.

From there it’s 12.7 kilometers and 980 meters of elevation, a 7.7% average.

Relatively speaking, this ascend of the Mortirolo Pass may be considered easy.

Not for me, but I did find this climb less difficult than the ones from Mazzo and Grosio / Tiolo.

The hardest stretch starts about 2 kilometers from the summit, between hairpin 10 and San Giacomo.

Coming up this end, you will see the only tavern near the summit: about a kilometer before you arrive there, you’ll pass the Albergo.

Bonus: there’s a harder alternative, taking the Recta Contador or Vecchia Mulattiera, the old mule track.

It parts the classic route outside Monno in hairpin 12 and rejoins it before hairpin 10.

This cuts some 3 kilometers from the length of the standard route and it is by itself only 3 kilometers long.

But this shortcut averages 13.7%, hitting 21.6% along the way…

Alternatives

One other approach to the Mortirolo summit I cycled was from Edolo, via Aprica and “around” Monte Padrio.

After getting to Aprica, you follow the climb up Trivigno.

Once you’ve reached the ~1,850 meter mark, you just cycle on for some 15 undulating kilometers to get to the Mortirolo summit.

However, the last part of that offers better views down into the valley than either of the more famous ascends.

The Mortirolo is generally not about beautiful views, other than an occasional glimpse…

A – probably – less travelled alternative is the one from Grosotto: 12 kilometers with 1,260 meters of elevation, a 10.5% average.

It joins the route from Grosio after some 3 kilometers.

Yet another alternative that is used in La Stelvio Santini granfondo, is the one from Sernio, just south of Tovo.

But that gets up the Passo di Guspessa and then does the same traverse I did from Aprica.

And noteworthy, but only if you have a mountain bike, is the Mortirolo ascend from Tovo di Sant’Agata, with grades up to 25% – this is the hardest of all possibilities…

Bike Rebel and the Mortirolo

I only managed to not nearly give up once: the first time I tackled the Mazzo ascend in 2011…

I’m not counting the Monno route, as that is doable any day, even for me.

But I choked on the Mazzo – twice – and Tiolo sides since then.

A Mortirolo ‘Mazzo rematch’, during my ‘Tour de Suisse 2019‘ didn’t go very well.

It didn’t go very well either in stage 2 of 2020’s Giro – I swore I’d never do it again after that stage, but given the chance, I will…

The only time I thought I went up the Mortirolo from Grosio, was in stage 4 of 2020’s Giro.

This was after I did the Monno ascend first.

However, upon studying the recording, it was clear that I had taken the Tiolo ascend.

I may have to get back to Grosio to get that ascend in as well.

My first Monno ascend of the Mortirolo Pass was in 2015 and I revisited it in 2020.

I have uploaded a few videos of the Mortirolo to my YouTube channel – check them out and if you’re on Kinomap, you can cycle them indoors yourself.

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¹ I’m not sure how many “Pantani Forever” monuments there actually are, but I’ve cycled passed four of them so far: on the Fauniera, the Galibier, les Deux Alpes and this one.

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