Hardest hill in pro cycling?

[okgo]

What do we think it is? The Zoncolan is pretty brutal I think :

"The road from Priola was first asphalted in autumn 2005. From bottom to top, the 8.9 kilometres (5.5 mi) long road gains an astonishing 1,140 metres (3,740 ft), meaning an average gradient of 12.8%. The lower part has sharp hairpin bends and is at times very steep. The climb is briefly flat after merging with the newer road, with the remaining 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) containing several ramps of up to 23% steepness"

But what is the hardest of the lot?

[anonymous-user]

ventoux.......but i am biased towards the history and the landscape. this article sums it up really.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/345826/...

"the hardest hill" really depends where it is on the stage and where that stage fits into the overall race particularly if its summit finish... it could be AdH on the penultimate day of le tour, in the rain with the GC contenders fighting it out ala 2010

[anonymous-user]

I remember seeing a website that actually had the hardest climbs listed and data on each, I think the hardest one was in Italy somewhere and was mainly off-road.

Goes of to google

[anonymous-user]

http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?Col=Monte-Zon...

pah 64th hardest climb

[rhinochopig]

Easy, hardest climb in cycling = Hautacam in 96 for any of the poor bds following Riis. Got to feel sorry for big Mig.

I'd love to know what he said to the pack at 1:20 ish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwHlCl2s0UM&fea...

Drugs or not, to this day I have yet to see a more comprehensive display of sheer power on a bike.

[itsnotarace]

Koppenberg in the wet is pretty much unrideable

[Beardy10]

rhinochopig said:

Easy, hardest climb in cycling = Hautacam in 96 for any of the poor bds following Riis. Got to feel sorry for big Mig.

I'd love to know what he said to the pack at 1:20 ish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwHlCl2s0UM&fea...

Drugs or not, to this day I have yet to see a more comprehensive display of sheer power on a bike.

That's a bit like saying Ben Johnson ran the best 100m ever....although not proved seems there is a lot of evidence to suggest he was doping.

[anonymous-user]

rhinochopig said:

Easy, hardest climb in cycling = Hautacam in 96 for any of the poor bds following Riis. Got to feel sorry for big Mig.

I'd love to know what he said to the pack at 1:20 ish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwHlCl2s0UM&fea...

Drugs or not, to this day I have yet to see a more comprehensive display of sheer power on a bike.

what do you mean drugs or not? given Riis has confessed that between 93 and 97/98 he was doped up to the eyeballs he probably said "if you guys are clean this is going to look really dodgy......."

[Rocksteadyeddie]

Zoncolan, Crostis, Mortirolo, Angliru or probably one on a tiny road that has never been ridden.

As pablo says a lot depends on the parcours of a stage.

[rhinochopig]

TBF though most of the riders he made a mockery of that day were also doped up to the eyeballs - big Mig almost certainly was.

One could argue that it was a probably a more level playing field then, than in later years when detection methods were better.

You can't deny his drugs seemed much better on that day than anyone else's

[thiscocks]

Koppenburg, although slightly easier than it was

[fixedwheelnut]

Not the hardest professional climb but still bloody hard, come and see the oldest bike race in England the Catford CC Hill Climb on Yorks Hill.
10.00am Sunday morning

The challenge is Yorks Hill a 707yd climb with an average gradient of 12.5%, with two stretches of 25%. Needing an all-out lung bursting effort. The current record of 1min 47.6 was set by Phil Mason (San Fairy Ann CC) in 1983 and despite the inducement of a special prize has not been broken in 28 years!


http://ridewithgps.com/trips/109612

http://vimeo.com/15734044

Edited by fixedwheelnut on Thursday 6th October 18:46

[okgo]

She rides for my club!

Fast!

[fixedwheelnut]

And a better film from last years
http://vimeo.com/29304914

[snowdude2910]

fixedwheelnut said:

The challenge is Yorks Hill a 707yd climb with an average gradient of 12.5%, with two stretches of 25%. Needing an all-out lung bursting effort. The current record of 1min 47.6 was set by Phil Mason (San Fairy Ann CC) in 1983 and despite the inducement of a special prize has not been broken in 28 years!

Edited by fixedwheelnut on Thursday 6th October 18:46

13.7mph for less then 2 minutes pft sounds like a piece of cake to me :P

[dontdobends]

The rake at Ramsbottom the hillclimb is on next Sunday

[mcelliott]

My offering is the Rock of Gibraltar. I think it has been used in a pro cycling event in the past, but I have also raced up it in 1995 for the World Island Games (one notch below the Commonwealth Games). I can vouch that this is easily one of the hardest climbs in cycling. We actually did is as part of a team time trial event starting from sea level all the way to the top - I think it was called St Michael's Mount. Our finishing time was 15.38 minutes and a few seconds shy of a bronze medal. Having ridden all over the French Alps I can honestly say that nothing I've ridden there competes with the sheer brutality of this climb. Stats below.

UCI rating: category 1
Length: 2.5 miles
Rise: 360m (1,200 ft)
Max gradient: 25%
Average gradient: 11.8%

[fixedwheelnut]

The 2011 video by Optimal Cadence Films
http://vimeo.com/30273999

and my photo's click on the link, the pic is of Rob Gough the winner third year on the trot in 1:54.5
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fixedwheelnut/sets/72...