Giro 2027 Route stage 16: Sondrio - Aprica

Tuesday 25 May – The Giro’s Queen Stage packs almost 6,000 metres of climbing into 192 kilometres. The elevation gain is spread across the Passo di Gavia, a double ascent of the Mortirolo and the final climb to Aprica. The last of these is relatively straightforward, but the others are anything but.

Published on 4 November 2027

As always, the Giro saves its toughest climbs for the final week, but this Queen Stage takes things to another level. Interestingly, the final climb, at 13.9 kilometres long and averaging 3.4%, is not particularly daunting. That only serves to underline the sheer brutality of what the riders face beforehand.

The Mortirolo is tackled from Mazzo di Valtellina, making it one of the toughest climbs in Europe. The first kilometre is relatively manageable, averaging 3.9%, but after that, the gradient never drops below 8%. The climb is 12.8 kilometres long and averages 10.1%, with the toughest section between kilometre 3.5 and 9.7, where the gradient averages 12.2%. This section also features the steepest ramp, at 18%.

After the technical descent, the route follows the River Oglio upstream to Ponte di Legno. This is around 15 kilometres of false flat. In 2019, also following the Mortirolo, the same stretch formed the finale of stage 16, when Giulio Ciccone beat Jan Hirt in a two-up sprint.

Ponte di Legno lies at the foot of the Passo di Gavia, and the climb begins deceptively gently, with gradients of around 5%. After roughly 4.5 kilometres, from Sant’Apollonia onwards, the riders enter the forest, where the road winds from one hairpin to the next, with gradients hovering around 8%. Roughly 6.5 kilometres into the climb, the road kicks up to a hefty 16%.

Once the riders emerge from the forest, the wind has a free rein, while the gradient continues to hover around 8%. Even in the tunnel, just over 3 kilometres from the summit, the Gavia continues to dish out gradients of around 8%, before the road surface deteriorates on the final approach to the summit. The climb to the Giro’s highest point is 16.5 kilometres long and averages 8%.

The riders descend to Bormio and follow the Adda valley back to Mazzo di Valtellina, where they tackle the Mortirolo for a second time. It remains a beast of a climb: 12.4 kilometres 10.5%.

Immediately after the descent comes the final haul up to Aprica. It’s 15 kilometres of climbing at an average gradient of 3.4%, although this figure is misleading, as the steepest kilometre, averaging 11.1%, comes early on. A gently undulating section then follows, including even a short descent, before the final 7 kilometres at 3.3%. So the final climb to Aprica forms a stark contrast to all the brutality that has gone before.

Stage 16 in 2015 also featured a finale that took in the Mortirolo from Mazzo before finishing uphill in Aprica. Steven Kruijswijk, Alberto Contador and Mikel Landa were the strongest riders on the day, with Landa taking the win.

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