Ok, it’s officially called the Granfondo Giordana International now, but to me it will always be the Pantani. A rather brutish day in the saddle with the likes of the Gavia and the Mortirolo passes to go over.

The ride started with a gentle descent to Edolo before the road started to turn upwards.  There was about 15-20km of gentle ascent before the foot of the Gavia to warm the legs up.  We got into a decent group and pinged along at a good pace.  So far so good.

The Gavia itself was not that bad a climb.  Of course it is very long, but never gets to fearsome gradients so you can get into a tempo and spin your way up.  The views help as well as they’re spectacular.  I suffered a bit from stomach cramps after wolfing down a few gels but apart from that it was ok.

I’ve never really liked descents as my lack of weight goes against me and it’s disheartening to see heavier riders freewheel past me.  Alas the bottom was reached and a group of us sped along the valley floor to the foot of the Mortirolo.  I met up with Ian again at the feed stop, ate a bit, filled my bottles up and we began to tackle the Mortirolo.

It’s hard to really describe how tough it was.  All week we’d been tackling decent climbs at 13km/hr, and the Gavia was scaled without too many dramas.  Surely the Mortirolo couldn’t be that much harder?

Sadly we couldn’t be more wrong.  As the mid-day sun beat down we ground our way up.  We’d agreed to regroup at the feed stop half way up so I tried to get into a tempo.  The gradients ranged from steep to bloody steep and speed slowed to around 6km/hr with cadence down around 55-60.  Going at that speed meant that sweat quickly accumulated and the heat really started to play a factor.

Maybe an extra gear would have helped, maybe a little extra strength in the legs.  Who knows, but this was tough.  With the sweat continuing to pour I started to lose a lot of salt and my aching muscles began to cramp one by one.  Standing would ease things a little but towards the top even that offered little respite.  Sheer bloodymindedness got me to the top and much needed rest and refreshment.

The rest of the ride was actually really nice.  After the top of the Mortirolo there is another slight uphill section before a gradual descent down the other side into Aprica.  It offered the chance for the legs to recover a bit and the final descent into Aprica was actually really nice as the oomph returned to my legs for the finish.

Probably 90% of the ride was quite comfortable, but the 10% of the Mortirolo was incredibly tough.  You can see why Lance called it the toughest climb on the pro circuit.  Worth doing just to experience it and feel the accomplishment, but be prepared for a good deal of suffering on your way to the top.

The GF Pantani was my 2nd Granfondo after last years Maratona dles Dolomites and they are certainly exceptional events.  The Dragon ride earlier this month had some serious issues and for me, UK events have lots of catching up to do.  Off to do the Pantani Memorial Sportive at Bourg d’Oisan at the end of August so we’ll see if the French do things as well as the Italians.