Passo di Antermoia

Overview

Passo di Antermoia is a category 1 climb that asks a real question of your legs. Over 14.8 km it averages 6.9%, lifting you from a start elevation of 773 m to a summit at 1792 m — a net gain of 1019 m, with 1010 m of total ascent once the minor dips are counted in. That near-perfect agreement between net gain and total ascent tells you something important: this is an almost relentlessly uphill road, with virtually no descending or false-flat recovery built in. What you climb, you keep.

At category 1, Antermoia sits just below the hors-catégorie tier — hard enough to shape a race or a hard training day, long enough that no one bluffs their way over it.

How the Gradient Unfolds

The headline number is 6.9%, but averages flatter a climb like this. Sustaining a 6.9% mean over 14.8 km means the easy stretches must be balanced by ramps well above it, and the max gradient of 16.4% confirms there are pitches more than twice as steep as the average.

Because total ascent (1010 m) barely exceeds net gain (1019 m — effectively equal), you should not expect the "climb-descend-climb" rhythm that lets you soft-pedal and recover. Antermoia is a single, continuous effort. The steepest ramps toward 16.4% are the moments to watch: they arrive on top of an already-loaded pair of legs, and the difference between the 6.9% baseline and those 16.4% walls — nearly ten percentage points — is exactly where riders blow up if they have spent too freely lower down.

Pacing Notes

The smart way to ride Antermoia is by effort, not ego. With 1019 m to gain and no recovery terrain, hold a steady, sustainable power close to threshold rather than surging on every rise. Anchor your target to your FTP: most riders can hold just below FTP for a climb of this duration without cracking.

If you do not know your current threshold, estimate it first with the FTP estimator, then set a ceiling you will not exceed on the lower slopes. Keep something in reserve for the 16.4% pitches — those are where you spend matches, not where you save them. Ride the 6.9% sections at a controlled tempo and let the steep ramps come to you.

Gearing

Fourteen-plus kilometres at 6.9% with ramps to 16.4% is exactly the profile where gearing decides whether you spin or grind. For most riders a compact 34-tooth inner chainring is the sensible front, paired with a wide-range cassette at the back.

A 34×32 will get many fit riders over the summit, but on the 16.4% pitches — arriving after more than a thousand metres of climbing — the extra range of a 34×34 buys you a lower cadence floor and saves your knees. If you are unsure, err toward the easier 34×34. On a climb this sustained, spinning a low gear beats muscling a high one.

Summary

Passo di Antermoia is a long, honest category 1 climb: 14.8 km of near-continuous ascent averaging 6.9%, punctuated by ramps to 16.4%. Pace it by threshold, gear it low, and respect that its 1019 m of gain come with almost no rest.

Length: 14.8 km
Average gradient: 6.9%
Max gradient: 16.4%
Start: 773 m
Summit: 1792 m
Net gain: 1019 m
Total ascent: 1010 m
Category: 1