Sacro Monte di Varese

I smile at the fact that no one has reviewed it yet, but I can imagine why. Those who arrive at the Sacro Monte-Campo dei Fiori junction generally opt to climb to the top of the belvedere of the second destination precisely because of the beauty of the climb and the view. Clearly, the two climbs share the first stretch right up to the fork: on this I can only write that up to the fork for the funicular it is a moderately demanding climb. Then from the turn to the right and up to the so-called First Chapel (the beginning of the Via Crucis that goes up to S.Maria del Monte) the gradients begin to become challenging (close to and even exceeding 10％). The gem is the section that after a short flat section immediately becomes hard (even 13％) for a km and a half until the roundabout at the crossroads to S. Monte. An almost straight climb (with the exception of a double bend more or less in the middle) that is challenging due to the continuity of the gradient over 10％ and must be handled with a little care. After the (working) funicular bridge, you have to struggle up to a pronounced left-hand bend that heralds two hairpin bends where you can take a breather. After the fork, the road tends to soften up until the last hairpin bend to the left where the road begins to climb again for 300m to arrive at the bus yard, which offers a discreet view eastwards from the Rasa di Varese to Monte Generoso. Some enthusiasts will remember that it was the finish of the final time trial stage of the 1990 Giro d'Italia won by a certain Gianni Bugno, to whom the climb is also dedicated.