Italy North: Four road bike tours in Piedmont - Lonely mountain roads in Piedmont

The Colle Fauniera doesn't make it easy for climbers. If you want to add the pass to your palmarès, you first have to find it. A mystery. It is said to be located somewhere in Piedmont, more precisely in the Cottian Alps, in the mountains between the Valle Stura and the Valle Maira. But on older maps, the finger circles the paper in vain. At most, a peak called Cima Fauniera is marked there. But a tarmac road? Not a thing. And yet there is supposed to be one.

The mysterious crossing is no longer quite as secret as it was in the days of the old maps. "Its real name is Colle dei Morti," says Manuele Zuc-chiatti, whom we meet in Cuneo, a town of 56,000 inhabitants. "And there are even more names floating around, which doesn't make things any easier," explains the 53-year-old Piedmontese. But Manuele doesn't actually have time to talk much about the Fauniera or Morti at the moment. Because the regional capital at the foot of the mountains is in a state of emergency - as it always is at the beginning of July when the Granfondo La Fausto Coppi takes place. A cycling marathon with 2,000 participants in honour of Fausto Coppi, who won the stage from Cuneo to Pinerolo in a legendary solo ride in the 1949 Giro d'Italia.

You can find the whole article and the GPS data for these tours in the download area below:

- Tour 1: Wild Gorge (95 kilometres, 1,920 vertical metres, max. 13 % gradient)
- Tour 2: Dream Pass (93 kilometres, 2,100 metres in altitude, max. 15 % gradient)
- Tour 3: Oh, Madonna! (59 kilometres, 1,300 metres in altitude, max. 12 % gradient)
- Tour 4: Ligurian Heights (90 kilometres, 2,050 vertical metres, max. 16 % gradient)

Downloads:
PDF: Italy: Piedmont
GPS data: Italy, Piedmont