Colle San Bartolomeo di Ormea

Overview

Colle San Bartolomeo di Ormea is a hors catégorie (HC) climb — the hardest rating there is, sitting above categories 1, 2, 3, and 4. The numbers explain why: 22.9 km of continuous ascent averaging 6.1%, dragging you from a valley floor at 49 m all the way to a 1442 m summit. That is 1393 m of net elevation gain, with 1376 m of total ascent recorded along the way — meaning this road climbs almost the entire time, with barely a metre given back. At nearly 23 km long, it is the kind of climb you settle into rather than attack, a sustained effort measured in the better part of an hour or more for most riders.

How the Gradient Unfolds

A 6.1% average across 22.9 km sounds steady, and much of the climb genuinely is — long, rhythmic stretches sitting close to the mean. But the 17.66% maximum tells you the road is not uniform. Somewhere in those 22.9 km is a ramp roughly triple the average, a pitch steep enough to stall your cadence and force you out of the saddle. The gap between total ascent (1376 m) and net gain (1393 m) is tiny, confirming there are almost no descents to break up the effort or let you recover legs and lungs. Expect the profile to alternate between manageable sustained grades and short, sharp kicks that spike toward that 17.66% figure. Reading the road ahead matters here: the flatter sections are where you bank composure for the steep ones.

Pacing Notes

On a climb this long, pacing is everything. Anchor your effort to a percentage of your FTP — climbing steadily just below threshold is far more sustainable across 22.9 km than surging and blowing up on the first steep pitch. If you do not know your threshold power, work it out with the FTP estimator before you ride. The strategy: hold a controlled, repeatable effort on the 6.1% average sections, and accept that the ramps toward 17.66% will briefly push you over threshold — that is fine, provided you ease back immediately afterward rather than chasing the surge. With 1393 m to gain and no real recovery built into the road, going out too hard in the opening kilometres is the single fastest way to turn the final third into a survival crawl.

Gearing

Gear for the steep pitches, not the average. A 22.9 km HC climb with a 17.66% maximum rewards a wide-range setup that keeps your cadence high and your knees happy. A compact 34-tooth chainring paired with at least a 34×32 is a sensible minimum; if you have the range, 34×34 gives you a genuine bailout gear for that near-18% ramp and for the tired legs you will have deep into the climb. Spinning a low gear at the summit end of 1393 m of climbing beats grinding a gear that is one tooth too tall.

Summary

Long, relentless, and unmistakably HC — Colle San Bartolomeo di Ormea asks for patience over 22.9 km, respect for its 17.66% ramp, and gearing that lets you keep turning the pedals to the top.

Length — 22.9 km
Average gradient — 6.1%
Max gradient — 17.66%
Start — 49 m
Summit — 1442 m
Net gain — 1393 m
Total ascent — 1376 m
Category — HC