Femminamorta from Pistoia via Montagnana

A climb of approximately 16 km, which can be divided into three sections: the first, starting from Pistoia Zoo, leads to Montagnana (famous for its schiacciata); this is followed by the tougher central section, with gradients of up to 13–14 per cent along a series of hairpin bends leading to the outskirts of Momigno; finally, the last section runs from there to Femminamorta. The climb offers beautiful, panoramic views over the valley, and the descent is equally lovely. The road is well-maintained and not very busy, except at weekends and during rush hour.

This is a beautiful climb with no extremely steep sections. Really a lovely and quite long runner at over 15 kilometres long. There are some vicious bits in it, but it never gets really steep. The climb is clearly popular with the locals as you mostly come across a lot of bicycle well-wishers. Both uphill and downhill. There is motorised traffic, but really not much. Along the way, a little fountain can be found in a village on the left. Given the searing heat on the climb, I still found it nice to be able to cool off. This climb offers beautiful views and fits nicely into any lap around Pistoia.