Paso de Godoy

Paso de Godoy cycling climb profile

Paso de Godoy is a compact but meaningful climbing effort: 5.8 km at an average gradient of 6.87%, rising from 158 m to 558 m. That gives it the shape of a climb that is long enough to require real pacing discipline, but short enough that many riders will be tempted to over-commit early.

The defining number is not just the average gradient. It is the gap between the 6.87% average and the 11.16% maximum. That tells you the climb is not simply a steady tempo ramp. Even if much of the ascent can be ridden at a controlled seated effort, there are steeper sections that will force a decision: hold torque and grind, shift early and protect cadence, or stand and spend a match.

How the gradient rides

With 400 m of net elevation gain packed into 5.8 km, Paso de Godoy should feel consistently uphill from the start rather than like a rolling approach to a single hard section. The available profile stats do not break the climb into lower, middle, and upper sectors, so the practical way to read it is as a sustained category 2 effort with sharper pitches layered into the overall grade.

That matters because an average near 7% already keeps most riders under constant load. When the road moves toward its maximum of 11.16%, the physiological cost rises quickly. If you arrive at those steeper ramps already riding above your sustainable climbing power, they become more than brief discomfort - they can force you into recovery mode before the summit.

Pacing strategy

The best approach is controlled aggression. Settle into a rhythm early and resist treating the first few minutes like a short hill. For riders using power, the climb is likely to sit close enough to a sustained threshold-style effort that pacing around /glossary/ftp discipline matters. Ride the opening phase slightly under control, then let the effort rise only once you know how your legs are handling the gradient.

If you are pacing by feel, the key is breathing stability. You want pressure on the pedals, but not the sense that you are already negotiating with the climb. The steepest pitches are where the climb can extract its cost, so the goal is to reach them with enough margin to lift torque without losing form.

Gearing notes

Choose gearing that gives you options at both 6.87% and 11.16%. A setup that feels efficient on the average gradient may still be too heavy when the road steepens. The priority is not spinning for comfort, but preserving cadence well enough that the steeper sections do not become low-cadence strength efforts by default.

Paso de Godoy rewards riders who keep the climb boring until it needs to be hard. Stay seated when the grade allows, shift before the steepest ramps rather than during them, and save any standing efforts for short corrections rather than long attacks against the slope.