The Giro d’Italia climb Monte di Ragogna (P009)

A short but demanding climb up Mount Ragogna, which starts from the FVG 6 Tagliamento Cycle Route when it reaches the village of Muris. A single "wall" consisting of 275 metres of elevation gain over a distance of approximately 2,800 metres: the average gradient is 10%, with peaks of 14-15% on the hairpin bends halfway along the route. Cyclists had to tackle this climb three consecutive times in the 16th stage of the 2020 Giro d'Italia! The route proceeds along the crest of the mountain and then heads down to the plain in the village of S. Pietro di Ragogna.

Mount Ragogna dominates the Tagliamento river at a crucial point in its course, at the Pinzano narrows, before it flows out into the Friulian Plain. Over the centuries, this passage was fortified through to the years leading up to the Great War; even today it is still possible to visit Ragogna Castle and what remains after the clashes between the Italian and Austrian armies in November 1917: blockhouses, barracks, trenches, ambush positions, paths, and war mule tracks, all well signposted and with explanatory notes. The Great War Museum in the hamlet of San Giacomo displays documents, images, and artefacts from the conflict, as well as a large relief model depicting the morphology of the battlefield as it appeared on October 31 1917. At Pinzano, at the foot of Mount Ragogna, is a single arch bridge over the Tagliamento, a remarkable work of engineering, offering a wonderful view of the river.