Italie: Vallées ladines dans les Dolomites - Dolomites : en route avec le vélo de course sur des chemins isolés
Val Pusteria. Another lorry rushes past the racing cyclist. The road is a little too narrow and a little too winding for everything that has to pass through there: locals, tourists and what they need to live. Nevertheless, it is the better alternative for a short time. The cycle path next door zigzags its way through the valley - and after a hundred kilometres of the finest, but exhausting, Dolomite biking, you're glad to be able to accelerate for a few kilometres. So: put your blinkers on and ride through.
Even the best area experts do it this way - for example Roman Erlacher. The Ladin valleys, which lie to the south of the busy Puster Valley, are his home. He lives in Val Badia, which leads from Val Pusteria into the magical mountain world of the Dolomites. It is a world of rugged rock, lovely meadows and roads that wind their way through with great difficulty. Erlacher has been cycling through the high mountains for more than 25 years, and you can see it in the 56-year-old's face: The tough dog takes on one 2,000 metre pass after another as if nothing were amiss. There used to be just two other racing cyclists in his region, he says. Today, the hotelier shares his passion with many others and is happy to show his guests the hidden roads.
Only the freewheel on Roman's racing bike is whirring
For example, in his home valley. One valley, one tarmac road - that's how many people know the Dolomites. Erlacher knows better. The only thing he hears as he rolls along a narrow road through dense coniferous forest in Val Badia is the freewheel of his bike. No cars, no lorries, no motorbikes. The road descends steeply to the right, climbs steeply to the left and undulates forwards. The traffic clusters a few metres lower down, where one car follows the next on the state road. At the top, on the other hand, Erlacher is not even bothered by pedestrians; despite the many hiking signs, he hardly ever encounters anyone. Later, gentle meadows replace the trees, and rugged rocky peaks tower into the sky on the horizon.
But that's nothing compared to the spectacular panoramas of the passes, such as the Gardena Pass. Up there, there is really only one road winding through the alpine meadows, but the others - the motorcyclists, cars, buses - seem to shrink on the huge natural stage in front of the mighty rock faces, just like the little cyclist. The backdrop of dolomite and limestone literally swallows him up. "Famoso," Erlacher snorts and pedals on vigorously. For the man from St. Vigil, the 18-kilometre descent from Valparola over the Falzarego Pass down to Cortina d'Ampezzo - with the fantastic view from Valparola to the snow-covered Marmolada, the highest mountain in the Dolomites at 3,343 metres - is clearly also "famoso".
You can download the full travel report and GPS data for these tours below:
- Tour 1: Around the Kronplatz (48 kilometres, 1,400 metres in altitude, max. 16 % gradient)
- Tour 2: Secret tour - on hidden roads (82 kilometres, 2,000 metres in altitude, max. 15 % gradient)
- Tour 3: Three Peaks Tour (133 kilometres, 2,400 metres in altitude, max. 15 % gradient)
- Tour 4: Würzjoch and Grödner Joch (127 kilometres, 2,900 metres in altitude, max. 17 % gradient)
