Muro di Sormano is one of the hardest and most epic climbs
Muro di Sormano is a short but devastatingly steep climb in Sormano, a municipality in the Province of Como in the Italian region of Lombardy. This vertical wall is famous as one of the most severe of any road cycling race, featuring sections in excess of 27% grade. It’s one of the hardest and most epic climbs you can ride on two wheels.
How long is Muro di Sormano?
The road is fully paved. It’s 1.9km (1.18 miles) long, starting and ending at Strada Provinciale 44 (SP44). It is essentially a cycle lane - closed to all motorized vehicles. The road tops out at 1.116 meters (3,661ft) above the sea level.
How brutal is Muro di Sormano?
The road is brutal. It’s a vertical wall with an average gradient of 17% but has sections in excess of 27%. When the climb featured in three editions of the Tour of Lombardy in the 1960s, many riders were famously forced to get off and walk. It was so difficult that most either walked to its summit or were pushed up it by fans. But for over 40 years, from 1963 to 2006, Muro di Sormano languished in near disuse and disrepair after a rise to notoriety as short and steep as the climb itself at the beginning of the 1960s. The Muro reopened in 2006 as a local group of riders raised 150,000 euros to resurface and reinvent the climb.
Pic: Carlo Pagani