Greina

Greina cycling climb profile

Greina is an HC-rated Swiss climb built around duration more than brutality. On paper, 27.1 km at an average gradient of 5.65% looks controlled, but that number is slightly misleading in the way long alpine climbs often are. The headline gradient is moderate enough to tempt riders into settling too high early, while the full 1531 m of net elevation gain means the cost of that mistake compounds for a long time.

The climb starts at 457 m and tops out at 1988 m, so the profile is not a short punchy ascent with a few hard minutes to survive. It is a long upward effort where aerobic discipline matters. The listed total ascent of 1530 m sits almost exactly in line with the net elevation gain, which points to a climb that is defined by sustained elevation gain rather than repeated descending resets.

How the gradient rides

With only the headline profile available, the safest way to understand Greina is as a long climb with a steady average but meaningful variation. A 5.65% average across 27.1 km is rarely the part that breaks a rider on its own. The issue is that the maximum gradient reaches 14.04%, so the climb clearly contains steeper ramps that sit well above the average.

That contrast matters tactically. If you pace Greina as if every kilometre will feel like 5.65%, the steeper sections can force you over threshold, burn matches, and leave you paying for it later. If you ride it as a climb with repeated chances to drift too hard, the profile becomes much more manageable. The average tells you the climb is sustainable. The maximum gradient tells you it still requires gearing and restraint.

Pacing and gearing notes

Treat the lower part as the place to save energy, not prove form. The climb is long enough that an early surge above your sustainable climbing power will be expensive by the summit. If pacing by /glossary/ftp, the default should be a controlled endurance-to-tempo effort early, with room to absorb the steeper ramps without turning them into repeated threshold spikes.

Gearing should be chosen for the 14.04% maximum, not the 5.65% average. A setup that feels comfortable on the moderate sections can still become inefficient on the steepest pitches if it forces low cadence grinding. For most riders, the right gear is the one that keeps cadence usable when the road tilts up, while still allowing smooth pressure through the long middle and upper portions.

The practical approach is simple: ride the average with patience, respect the maximum gradient, and keep the final third in mind from the first kilometre. Greina rewards riders who keep the effort even, avoid chasing speed on easier gradients, and arrive near the summit with enough control to handle the last sustained elevation gain cleanly.