Cogne - Verrogne - Cogne

The Mine Valley- 2

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTE

Extremely testing route suitable for well-trained cyclist ready to face two very long climbs in a row. If you are not enough trained and/or have eaten improperly, the final ascent might turn out to be unmanageable. In this case, it might be more appropriate to set off from Aymavilles or Saint-Pierre, so that you can go back to the start point rolling always downhill from any point on the route.

KM 78

Elevation gain 2200

Difficulty ****

Category Amateur

Max. gradient 15%

Duration 3h30-4h00

Technical info

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Starting off from Cogne, the entire first part of the route is an uncomplicated descent with 7 tunnels, which are included also in the ascent.
Past Aymavilles, follow the signs for Sarre, at the bottom of the Verrogne climb (at Caillod the route joins the Giro 2022 stage course).
This is a winding hillside climb that is very exposed to the sun and consequently very hot on summer days (take this into account in terms of required liquid intake). The ascent and descent are on well-paved low-traffic regional roads.
The fast-rolling descent leads to Aymavilles, at the bottom of the final climb.
The first part, approx. 5 km, is the relatively steepest sector (6.8% average gradient). This is followed by a short descent, and another stretch rises at a 7% gradient leading to the almost 14-km false-flat at 2/3% that heads to Lillaz, the hamlet of Cogne hosting the stage finish of the Giro 2022.
A short descent takes you to the start point at the car park in Cogne.

NOTES:
As the sr.47 is the only road connecting Cogne to the valley floor, it can be congested, especially in summer.
Cogne is home to an interesting Mining Museum relating to the magnetite mine closed in 1979. As a curiosity, the mine was connected to Aosta for the transport of the ore by a Cogne-Acquefredde (Pila/Gressan) railway where a cable car then transported the material to Aosta.

ROUTE CHANGES DURING YOUR RIDE:
Obviously, at Aymavilles you can bypass the Verrogne climb and follow the previous route.
If you feel like doing it, as an alternative or in addition to the passage to Lillaz, once you are back down to Cogne, you can reach Valnontey with an easy climb similar to the Lillaz one. Valnontey hosted the finish of the Gran Paradiso stage in 1985, when Andy Hampsten claimed the victory. Three years later he won the Giro.

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tourist info

Valnontey is a secondary valley in Val di Cogne, to the south, towards the summit of the Gran Paradiso massif.

It is entirely part of the Gran Paradiso National ParK.

At Valnontey, which gives its name to the valley, is the Paradisia Alpine Botanical Garden, a botanical garden specialising in alpine essences, produced since the 1950s.

There are 1,000 species in the garden, all collected in the wild or obtained from seed in the garden nursery. There are collections of rock samples from Val di Cogne, lichens that spontaneously colonise a series of large boulders, butterflies and medicinal plants.