Kolovrat: two steep walls, the Livek shelf and a WWI ridge

Kolovrat is the long ridge on the Slovenian–Italian border above the Soča valley, with the trenches of the First World War still cut into it. The road up from the valley floor is one of the hardest in the country. The Giro d'Italia's own description calls it 12 tough kilometres with one short, manageable stretch at Livek, and our track from Idrsko climbs 937 m in 10.2 km at 9.1%. Here is how the climb breaks down, how to ride its two steep halves, and why the top is worth stopping at.

The climb, from Idrsko

The Soča valley tourist board gives the road in three parts: from Idrsko on the Kobarid–Tolmin road up to Livek (5 km), left to Livške Ravne (4 km), then 3 km along the ridge to the open-air museum. The Giro starts its count in Kobarid, just up the valley, and puts the top at 1,162 m. Our track begins at the Idrsko turn at 214 m and finishes on the ridge at 1,151 m, short of the museum car park.

• Idrsko to Livek: the first wall. The road leaves the valley at once and gets steeper as it goes: 9.3%, 9.4%, then 11.3% and 12.2% for the third and fourth kilometres, the steepest on the climb. There is no rest. You arrive in Livek at about 700 m, already close to halfway in height.
• The Livek shelf. Livek sits on a small plateau, and the fifth kilometre drops to 5.7%. This is the "manageable stretch" the Giro mentions. Use it to drink, sit up and bring your breathing down. Don't use it to make up time.
• Livek to the ridge: the second wall. Past the turn for Livške Ravne the gradient builds again: 7.3%, then 10.6% and 10.2% through the hamlet. The last two kilometres settle at 7–8% as the road reaches the ridge, and suddenly there is nothing above you but sky.

How to ride two walls and a shelf

Most riders take between 45 minutes and an hour and a quarter to reach the ridge. That is long enough for pacing mistakes to show, and the Livek shelf makes them easy to make.

• Ride the first wall at your hour effort, not your 20-minute one. About 85–90% of FTP. The third and fourth kilometres will feel like a climb on their own. Riding them at your limit leaves nothing for the second half, which is almost as steep. Pacing a climb with power covers why.
• Recover on the shelf. Two or three minutes easier through Livek are worth more than the 20 seconds you would gain by pushing. Eat something here if the ride is a long one.
• Gear low. At 12% a 34×28 is a grind for most amateurs; a 32 or 34 sprocket keeps your cadence alive. See gearing for climbing.
• Mind the weather. The valley is low and warm, the ridge is open and exposed. In summer start early, before the heat builds in the valley. In spring and autumn take a layer for the top.

The ridge and its history

During the First World War Kolovrat was the third defence line of the Italian army on the Isonzo front, and the open-air museum on the ridge at 1,115 m is part of the Walk of Peace. You can walk through the trenches, gun positions and caverns, one with a spiral staircase. From the ridge the view runs from Krn and Kanin across the old battlefield to the Friuli plain and, on a clear day, the Adriatic. The museum is open daily in July and August and Wednesday to Sunday in June, and it closes in bad weather.

The Giro's own history of the climb recalls October 1917. After the breakthrough at Caporetto, German troops led by a young lieutenant named Erwin Rommel took the ridge in a surprise attack on 25 October. The next day, advancing from Livek, he took Matajur almost without firing a shot.

The race came here on 27 May 2022, on stage 19 from Marano Lagunare to the Santuario di Castelmonte. Riders crossed into Slovenia, climbed from Idrsko through Livek and Livške Ravne, and left the country again over the ridge. The Giro lists Koen Bouwman as first over the top. The next summer, stage 4 of the Tour of Slovenia climbed Kolovrat twice before finishing in Kobarid.

Practical: loops, roads and the way down

• Roads. The tourist board describes the roads to the ridge from Kobarid and Tolmin as asphalted and quiet. Expect little traffic, but the odd farm vehicle on the narrow sections.
• Make it a loop. The other road comes up from Volče, near Tolmin, about 9 km to the ridge. Climb from Idrsko, descend to Volče and ride back up the valley through Tolmin, or the other way round, and you have a loop. Our guide to the Soča valley by bike has more roads to join it up with.
• Matajur next door. Livek is also the gateway to Matajur, the mountain above it. If you still have legs, our Matajur guide follows the same road to Livek and carries on into Italy.
• The descent. Both sides are steep and narrow, with tight bends. Brake before the bends and keep your speed honest; descending faster and safer has the technique.

Ride it in Moveee Indoor

The route on this page is the real road from Idrsko to the Kolovrat ridge, with its height at every point. In Moveee Indoor your smart trainer reproduces that gradient as you ride, and the world around you is built from the map of the real place: the valley, the village of Livek, the open ridge. Kolovrat suits the trainer well because its lesson is about rhythm: how hard to ride the first wall, how much to recover on the shelf, and whether you can still turn the pedals at 10% after half an hour of climbing.

Ride it a couple of times during a build and compare your split at Livek with your time to the top. If the second half is falling apart, you are starting too hard. Prefer your own device? Download the GPX above and load it into any app that rides GPX files.

The short version

10.2 km and 937 m from Idrsko to the ridge, in two steep halves split by the Livek shelf, with the steepest kilometre at 12.2%. Pace the first wall at your hour effort, recover through Livek and save something for Livške Ravne. At the top, leave time to walk the trenches.