Cima Grappa is a classic road of Giro d'Italia
Cima Grappa is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 1.775m (5,769ft) above the sea level, part of the Grappa massif, which straddles the provinces of Treviso, Vicenza, and Belluno in the northeast Italy's Veneto region. On the top sits the Sacrario Militare del Monte Grappa, a monumental burial site for soldiers killed on both sides of World War I.
There are 9 possible routes to reach the summit, but the most famous one starts in Semonzo. The ascent is 19 km long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 1.530 meters. The average percentage is 8.1 %. The surface of the road is asphalted.
The Giro d’Italia has visited Monte Grappa several times. The first 11km of the climb comes at a relatively constant 7.4% gradient. The final 7.5km averages out at 8.9% but the gradient ramps throughout, reaching up to 14% and making it impossible to ride in a constant rhythm.
The drive is definitely worth it. Don’t forget your camera! Monte Grappa is renowned for the military memorial on the top, where the bodies of 20,000 soldiers of the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies are buried. The Italian ossuary shelters the bones of 12,615 soldiers, amongst whom 2283 have been identified, and the Austro-Hungarian one shelters 10,295 soldiers, amongst whom 295 were identified. In honour of the fallen soldiers who gave their lives for the homeland, immediately after the war, the Ossarium was erected, trusting its construction to the same engineers that designed the gallery Vittorio Emanuele III. Work began in October 1925.