Colle del Nivolet – Above The Lakes | Art Print

The world’s best cycling climb? well like saying this is the world’s best pizza, that is very subjective. However, undoubtedly Colle del Nivolet is the world’s best cycling climb and road to motorcycle or drive.

Found in Gran Paradiso National Park, to the North West of Turin, Colle del Nivolet is a road to nowhere, except for its exceptional beauty. Famous for lake Agnel providing the backdrop for the legendary film The Italian Job and its appearances in the Giro d’Italia. We must thank the Italian government for building two massive hydroelectric dams in the 1950s as, without them, we would have this amazing playground.

The climb is isolated, and so hard to combine with others. There is however Lago di Tleccio nearby, and so we started from the town of Noasca. A pretty town with a raging river through it. Perfect for sharing pizza with your friends after. Immediately you’re presented with 4 huge and magnificently built hairpin bends with Giro d’Italia memorabilia until you see a tunnel straight ahead. Cyclists will need to take a left turn before it and follow the old road around the tunnel section. This is very pretty, although the road is a bit “rustic”. After the deviation, you arrive at Lago di Ceresole (one of many lakes) where the gradient flattens out and skews the difficulty of this climb. From here you get to spend some time in the trees as you follow the path of Torrente Orco until you finally break free and the road outclimbs it. The Magic is about to begin.

In front, a wall of granite, just wanting to show you more. Elevated hairpins left right and centre (be sure to look back too), the river overflowing the rocks until you see the first dam with huge letters ” Cita Di Torino” City of Torino holding back Millions of gallons of water in Lago Serru. On the way down worth stopping to go onto the dam. When riding up and over the dam, Lago Dell Agnel comes into sight with even more hairpins to enjoy, 7 in total in this next section before the final section. 6 hairpin bends on the opposite side of the valley to take you up and past the viewing gallery on the left to the Colle itself. From there you can descend to Laghi di Nivolet where there is a refuge to grab a drink/food.

There aren’t enough superlatives to summarise this climb. It just ticks every box you could want as a cyclist, motorcyclist or driver. It has 33 hairpin bends, and some of the most sublime hairpin sections in the world. It has lakes, multiple valleys with different environments, dams, stunning backdrops and even in the summer it is not busy. Truly sublime and no other climb out there (which we’ve ridden) comes close. Perfection.

Stats: 1659m of ascent in 26.7km. Average gradient of 6.2%. Elevation: 2641 m (8,664 ft) Hairpins:33

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About the Photographer – Daniel Hughes

Epic Cols is a passion project for rider and photographer Daniel Hughes. Hughes is a Sony Photographic ambassador who works with some of the world’s largest and most renowned outdoor brands. His work can be seen in galleries, magazines, online publications and on his clients’ channels.