Video: Mike Cotty takes on the feared Giro d'Italia climb, the Passo di Gavia

Mike Cotty has released another of his Col Collective videos, this time taking on the fearsome Passo di Gavia in Lombardy.

The climb features regularly in the Giro d’Italia where on seven occasions since its debut in 1960 it has been designated the Cima Coppi, the highest point of the race, often preceding the Mortirolo these days.

“I’m not sure what it is that excites me so much about the Passo Gavia,” says Cotty. “Perhaps it’s the iconic snowy images of Andy Hampsten from the 1988 Giro d’Italia that really set my imagination free as a kid.”

He was alluding to one of the most famous stages in the Giro’s history when the American rider seized the initiative during a sudden snowstorm on the climb to ride into the maglia rosa and set up his overall victory.

Even on a sunny day in May, huge walls of packed snow flank the Giro peloton as it tackles the climb.

Liquigas with leader Ivan Basso on the Gavia in 2010 Giro (picture LaPresse)

But if the weather turns ugly it can cause a headache for race organisers; a planned ascent in the 2013 Giro was skipped due to heavy snowfalls.

It featured this year despite more snow, with Team Colombia’s Robinson Chalapud first over the summit in a stage won by eventual champion Nairo Quintana of Movistar.

Cotty says: “I’ve ridden it in the cold, the rain, the wind but also in glorious Italian Alps sunshine, the type that gently warms your soul from within as you put the whole world on pause and simply enjoy the gift of being on you bike and breathing pure mountain air.

“Whatever conditions I’ve faced I always get a special feeling when I’m on the Gavia. Whilst its neighbouring Passo dello Stelvio may enjoy more of the limelight for me the Gavia has everything that I enjoy most about Alpine cycling - tranquility, tiny narrow roads, steep pitches, busted up tarmac and some of the most sensational scenery I’ve ever been blessed to see.

“Such a hard climb but so rewarding. We bring to you the Passo Gavia, absolutely one of the greatest climbs you’ll ever ride!”

Here’s the climb’s vital statistics:

Length: 17.3km
Summit: 2,621m
Elevation gain: 1,363m
Average gradient: 7.9%
Max gradient: 16%

It’s the fourth video in the Col Collective series, with the others featuring the Col du Galibier, the Passo dello Stelvio and the Col d’Aubisque.

The Col Collective website will go live next month, and if you want to be among the first to know when that happens, head here to sign up.