Stelvio Pass | Austria | 1823 metres in altitude | 23.6 kilometres | KOM 1:08:27 hrs.
The Stelvio Pass has two ascents - the 48 hairpin bends from Prad are particularly spectacular. The climb has been ridden for years in events such as the TOUR-Transalp, Dreiländergiro and, of course, in professional bike races - the list of KOM aspirants is correspondingly long. The queen of pass roads is the dream of all racing cyclists - on beautiful summer weekends, however, motorised traffic can completely spoil the pleasure. You should therefore consider on which day and at what time you climb to the top of the pass. The road leads up to an altitude of 2757 metres, and even in summer it can snow. The route planners of the Giro d'Italia can tell you a thing or two about the capricious weather on the mountain.
Jack Burke (29), Neustift im Stubaital | Austria | Segment 638944*
Canadian Jack Burke made headlines in 2024 because he conquered several KOMs on climbs that had previously been set by well-known professional cyclists. Even "Der Spiegel" reported on the "second-class rider who beats the stars". Burke can look back on a career as a rider in Continental teams and won the Ötztaler Cycle Marathon twice. He currently lives in Neustift in the Stubai Valley and is not far from the Stelvio. "I've ridden the Stelvio many times - it's simply the most famous climb near me and I wanted to see how fast I could do it. I hadn't planned anything more than that." The fact that his records caused such a stir gave him the idea to publicise his desire for a professional contract via social media. "There was more attention for my KOMs than for the Ötztaler victory." The conditions on the Stelvio Pass were anything but ideal: "It was mid-October. It was one degree cold and it was snowing at the top." Unfortunately, he didn't get a professional contract: "Nine teams got in touch with me, but that was all in November and December, so most of them were already occupied or had no budget left for more riders."
*Because there are sometimes several segments on a climb, we name the number of the segment (example: 9387933 means www.strava.com/segments/9387933). We have taken the altitude information for all segments from Strava, even if it is imprecise
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