Passo Fedaia: the straight above Malga Ciapela, under the Marmolada

Passo Fedaia, at 2,057 m, sits right under the Marmolada, which the Giro d'Italia calls the Queen of the Dolomites. From Caprile the climb looks moderate on paper. Our track gives 16.7 km and 1,080 m at an average of 6.3%. That average is a lie. The first nine kilometres are easy; the next five, according to the Giro, may be the hardest 5,000 m in the Dolomites. Here is how the climb is built, how to ride the straight, and how to make a loop of it.

The climb: an approach, a straight and the hairpins

• Caprile to Malga Ciapela. The Giro counts the first 9 km, up the valley of the Pettorina stream past Sottoguda to Malga Ciapela, as the approach. Its cycle-route guide notes a steep start and then gentler slopes as far as Sottoguda. Our track agrees: after an 8.8% kilometre early on, most of the approach runs at 1.5–8%, and nothing here should feel hard. The old road through the Serrai di Sottoguda gorge, the Giro's guide adds, has been closed since the Vaia storm of October 2018.
• The straight. Just past Malga Ciapela the road bends right and the real climb begins. First comes a nearly 3 km straight, which the Giro gives an average of 12% and a peak of 16%; its cycle-route guide puts the steepest point, near Capanna Bill, at 18%. Being straight, it gives you nowhere to hide. Our track has 11.2, 11.8 and 11.8% for these kilometres.
• The hairpins. Then about 2.5 km of hairpins with double-digit gradients, with 15% near the top according to the Giro's guide. Our track gives 10.4% and 11.7%, and a steepest kilometre of 13%.
• Lago di Fedaia. At the top of the hairpins you reach the reservoir below the Marmolada. The Marmolada tourism consortium describes a false flat along the lake, with the glacier on your left, and the Giro's guide notes a dam at each end. The last two and a half kilometres on our track are almost flat. Enjoy them; you have earned it.

How to ride the straight

Most fit amateurs take an hour and a quarter to two hours from Caprile, but almost all of the hard work is in the 30 to 50 minutes after Malga Ciapela.

• Arrive at Malga Ciapela fresh. Ride the approach at an easy endurance pace, well under 75% of FTP. Anything you spend in the valley you will pay back with interest on the straight.
• Ride the straight to a ceiling. It is three dead-straight kilometres of 12%, and fresh legs tempt you to push. Set a limit, around threshold, and ride under it. If you blow up halfway up the straight, there is nowhere to recover until the lake. Pacing a climb with power covers riding to a ceiling.
• Gear for 12–18%. A 34×32 is the least most amateurs will want here, and a 34×34 or lower is kinder. See gearing for climbing.
• Stand on the steepest ramps. Short spells out of the saddle on the steepest part of the straight and the hairpins spread the load; standing power explains how to do it without wasting energy.

The Giro's hardest five kilometres

The Giro d'Italia first crossed the Fedaia on 5 June 1970. It had planned to come a year earlier, but the 1969 stage to Malga Ciapela was cancelled because of snow and wind. Michele Dancelli went over first in 1970 and won the stage in a sprint of six that included Eddy Merckx and Felice Gimondi.

The straight has decided races since. In 1975 the race leader Fausto Bertoglio cracked on it but held on to the pink jersey. In 1998 Marco Pantani and Giuseppe Guerini broke away on the Marmolada on the stage to Selva di Val Gardena, where Pantani took the lead. In 2008 a stage from Arabba finished at the pass, and in 2022 Alessandro Covi went over first on the stage from Belluno to the Marmolada.

Planning the ride

• Getting to Caprile. According to the Giro's cycle-route guide, a cycle path runs beside the road from Alleghe to Caprile, but it is busy with walkers.
• The Marmolada loop. The Marmolada tourism consortium describes a 71 km loop from Rocca Pietore over the Fedaia, down towards Canazei, over the Passo Pordoi at 2,239 m and back through Arabba and Pieve di Livinallongo. The Pordoi is also the first climb of our Sella Ronda loop from Canazei.
• Season and weather. At over 2,000 m, below a glacier, the top can be cold even in summer. Take a gilet and gloves for the descent.
• The descent. If you come back the way you went up, the straight is fast and the bend at Malga Ciapela comes up quickly. Brake early. Descending faster and safer has the technique.

Ride it in Moveee Indoor

The route on this page is the real road from Caprile to the pass, 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 map data of the real place. The Fedaia is a good lesson in restraint: nine easy kilometres that tempt you to ride faster, then five that punish you if you did. Ride it indoors and you will learn the effort you can hold on 12% for half an hour, and the gear you need to do it.

Your ride is saved with its power data, so you can compare one attempt with the next. It works in the browser and in the Mac and Windows apps. For another app, download the GPX above.

The short version

About 17 km and 1,090 m from Caprile to 2,057 m, but nearly all the climbing is in the five kilometres above Malga Ciapela: a 3 km straight at 12% and then hairpins in double figures. Ride the approach easy, take the straight at a steady effort under your limit, and enjoy the flat road along the lake at the top.