The summit of the Mortirolo climb has been renamed after Italian cycling legend Marco Pantani, whose fiery ascent of one of Italy's toughest climbs in the 1994 Giro d'Italia is widely considered one of the most memorable stages in the race's recent history.
According to local newspaper ValtellinaMobile, officials from the two nearby towns of Mazzo and Monno agreed on the official renaming of the summit of the ultra-ardous climb. Set deep in the Dolomites, the Mortirolo peaks out at 1,852 metres above sea level and has ramps of up to 22% on one of the four possible approach roads, all of them at least 10km long, to the top.
First tackled in 1990 and for the last of 16 times to date in 2024, Pantani's attacks on the Mortirolo in the 1994 Giro and subsequent victory in Aprica marked the outcome of that year's entire race.
In 1994, Miguel Indurain, the previous double overall winner of the Giro d'Italia and the dominator of the Grand Tours in the first half of the decade, suffered badly, finally cracking for good on the following climb of Valico di Santa Cristina.
The following day, the Giro's official newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, entitled its race report: Pantani, sei un mito - Pantani, you are a legend.
Indurain completed the 1994 race in third overall, behind overall winner Evgeni Berzin and Pantani, second. Although Indurain subsequently won two more Tours de France to bring his total to a record-equalling five, he never returned to the Giro.
A monument to Pantani, who died in 2004, has already been erected on the climb at the town of Piaz de l’Acqua, some 8km off the mountain top. The first rider across the summit in the Giro also receives the Cima Pantani prize. However, this latest dedication to the memory of Il Pirata on the Mortirolo arguably renders the association between rider and climb even more indelible.
The 2025 Giro d'Italia is widely expected to pass over the Mortirolo and the Cima Pantani on a stage finishing in the nearby town of Bormio. Local authorities are reportedly hoping for a special event to commemorate the newly rebaptised summit.
This week it emerged that a little-known Canadian amateur, Jack Burke took more than a minute off Vincenzo Nibali's Strava record for scaling the Mortirolo.
Burke, 29, completed the ascent of one of Italy's toughest climbs in a time of 43:45, 67 seconds faster than Nibali's record, on November 16.
