San Gottardo Archives

Tour de Suisse 2019 Stages – Part 2

June 27, 2022July 24, 2019

In a previous post, I have described the area around Andermatt, our second base camp for my Tour de Suisse 2019.

This post provides more details on the possible stages and alternatives I have in mind and which I will probably not ride.

Although not for lack of trying, but just because most of my trip ideas are insane, given that I would like to ride every day and I’m not a world tour pro rider…

(Plus, I will have a week’s worth of ass-whooping climbs in my legs by the time we settle in Sedrun)

Another factor is, that there are many climbs, most of them with at least two alternative routes to cycle them, and I have only so many days during either part of my Tour de Suisse.

So, each stage below is described including alternatives – if you’d rather not read all of that, just wait for my post stage reports later on 🙂

Cols of the Swiss Stage

November 27, 2022March 19, 2016

In June last year, at the end of my Giro d’Italia 2015, I rode an entirely ‘Swiss Stage’ including the Gotthard (Tremola road), the Furka and the Grimsel.

You can read a report on that stage here – it offered some of the most stunning views I have encountered so far and I am determined to get back there for more, during a longer stay.

Gotthard Pass

April 12, 2022March 16, 2016

The St. Gotthard Pass (Italian: Passo del San Gottardo) connects south and north Switzerland.

Other than traversing the Gotthard tunnel, you can travel the new Tremola if you want to enjoy some of the views from within your car or on your motorcycle, while not losing too much time.

However, that also has some (long) tunneled sections and the far more interesting – and better cycle-able – road is the old Tremola between Airolo in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, and Hospental in the German-speaking canton of Uri.

With a summit at 2,106 meters¹, the Gotthard Pass doesn’t earn a high ranking in the European list of ‘highest passes’, but the old Via Tremola is a more than fair compensation.

The Tremola road is Switzerland’s longest memorial road construction. It snakes up the slopes of the Val Tremola as a light-coloured ribbon from Airolo and offers impressive views.

In the most spectacular section, the road climbs up 300 meters over a 4 kilometer stretch, incorporating no less than 24 hairpins, each with its own name. The Tremola road today still largely retains the appearance of the reconstruction completed in 1951.

¹ Coming from Airolo, when you arrive at the Guex memorial, you’re not quite there yet. There’s a sign to be found, reading 2,091 meters, but it’s not the summit. Follow the road past the Lago della Piazza and keep left to bump into the official sign…

Giro d’Italia 2015 – The Swiss Stage

November 27, 2022June 29, 2015

Earlier this year, when we decided that a “Tour de Suisse*” was not going to happen, I did plan on climbing some of the great passes there on our way home.

As it was going to be a one day event, I had to limit the amount of climbs.

The most obvious road to take was the one up and over the Gotthard, Furka and Grimsel – my own short version of the Alpenbrevet…

The weather looked fine for the Friday, but we needed to transfer to Airolo first, a 3.5 hour trip.

We got up shortly after 5 am and took off around 7 – as usual, the trip took “a little” longer, mainly because of traffic.