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BIG Review 2009
30th July, 2008: Our Trittico Mortirolo
=104,3 km+3620 m height diff.
Gabor GYÖRGYI, corrected
by Mauro REPETTI
This day will remain forever
the most memorable, perfect
day imaginable!
We intended to cycle the
‘Trittico Mortirolo’, which
means climbing the 3 climbs of
Passo Mortirolo in a day.
Passo Mortirolo is one of the
hardest climbs of the Giro
d’Italia. Every second year,
for the last 10 years or so, it is
one of the stages of the Giro.
After an early wake up, we had
a special breakfast which is
good for cycling. We left some
of our bags with Mauro’s wife,
Stefania, who – with their son,
Simo – followed us 2 hours
later. I carried some food and
clothes and about 1.5 kg repair
set and pump with me.
We left Tirano in wonderful
morning sunshine, cycling
along a nice stream. I was
confident and wasn’t afraid of
the day of climbing. I felt that
the day would be wonderful
and perfect. In Mazzo, at the
Bar Mortirolo we got the first
stamps and took photos, then
started the hardest climb of
Passo Mortirolo. I often took
video whilst cycling or with
short stops. The first 3 km (8-
10 % steep ) were just for
warming up, then at a small
church the real climb started.
As we were talking, telling
each other stories, I was
excited and I hardly felt the 14-
16% steepness. I was amazed
at the feeling I had beside the
memorial wall of Marco
Pantani, where we took photos
and videos of each other.
Although we stopped where I
wanted for photos or videos, at
other times I took them during
cycling, and we arrived for the
last 2-3 – not so hard – km at
10 am. I enjoyed coming out of
the forest and seeing the view
towards the pass; I imagined
what it would be like when
69
there were a lot of fans
shouting to the cyclists. After
we met with Stefania and Simo
they took more photos of us.
We arrived at the top at half
past 10 am, half hour before we
had planned.
We met only 2-4 other cyclists
there. After eating some food
(I ate normal cake, ban: mueslibar
and banana) we said hello
to them and rolled down to
Grosio, the other bottom of
Passo Mortirolo, where we got
our 2nd stamp, and Mauro had
his 2nd coffee.
This climb caused no problem
for us again: it didn’t feel so
hard, as its steepness was
variable: sometimes 14-16%,
sometimes only 7-8%. In the
middle of the climb we met
with 2 guys, who came from
behind and began cycling in
front of us. One of them
shouted: ‘allez, allez!’ to try
and show that he was a more
serious cyclist than we were, at
which point I became a little
angry and started to push the
pedals harder and overtook
him. His legs suddenly seemed
not to be so strong!
The German guy was stronger,
so we followed him for half
km, but after that we returned