Sellaronda Loop

The circumnavigation of the Sella Group by bike packs more beauty—spectacularly stunning scenery—into a scant 50 km than any other ride I can imagine. Plus, it is a physical pleasure to ride the Sellaronda, with its 1922m of climbing nicely spaced across four famous Giro d'Italia passes, making each pass a short challenge, rather than being a long grind. Typically, we make a lollypop out of the Sellaronda Loop, adding a few kilometers of warm up (and cool down) to the ride by starting somewhere southeast of Arabba. From our starting point we'll ride 4 – 8 km of slightly ascending rollers to Arabba, then commence our four pass loop of the Sella massif! Heading north from Arabba (1602m) we climb 273 meters to Passo Campolongo (1875m), then descend to Corvara (1555m)—it's open and fast at first, then tightens into several well banked switchbacks. Leaving Corvara to the west, we undertake our longest climb of the day—totaling 566 meters—mostly through flower filled alpine meadows to Passo Gardena (2121m). The descent from Passo Gardena is short and sweet, as the road stays high on the shoulder of the Gruppo di Sella and we bypass the towns of Selva di Val Gardena and Plan De Gralba, reaching a low spot at the junction with SS 242 (1870m) on our way to Passo Sella (2240m, climb of 370m). Descending from Passo Sella toward Canazei we once again bypass entering town and turn left at the junction with SS 48 (1825m), limiting our descent to 385 meters. Our last climb of the day is 414 meters to Passo Pordoi (2239m), and winds through the ski runs above Canazei. The descent from Passo Pordoi to Arabba is technical and fun with many switchbacks—some significantly tighter than others! After passing through Arabba we continue our rolling descent for the same 4 – 8 kilometers we added to the start.