Granfondo La Fausto Coppi: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The field leaves Piazza Galimberti at seven, and after just a kilometre and a half, beyond the Viadotto Soleri, the Granfondo splits from the two shorter routes and turns right towards Busca. Twenty near-flat kilometres later the Colletta di Rossana arrives at km 20, not quite two kilometres at 5.4 per cent, the gateway into the Valle Varaita. The road then drags gently up the valley through Venasca, Brossasco, Melle and Frassino to Sampeyre, where at km 49 the day really starts: 15.3 kilometres averaging 8.6 per cent and 1,312 metres of climbing to 2,284 metres. The Colle di Sampeyre was dropped from the route after 2013 for more than a decade, because the road was too narrow and the surface broken in places, and only returned in 2025, at the riders' request, once both the climb and the descent had been resurfaced.

What follows is the 17.7-kilometre fast, technical descent into the Valle Maira. From km 87 the second block begins, and it begins nastily: three short steps around Marmora, the first 900 metres at 11.5 per cent, with ramps beyond 28 per cent. From km 94 come 9.7 kilometres at 7.5 per cent to the Colle d'Esischie at 2,370 metres, and from km 104 a final 5.2 kilometres at 7.3 per cent to the Colle Fauniera at 2,481 metres, the high point of the race, with the Marco Pantani monument at the top. The pass road is asphalt but narrow and patched; it is a municipal mountain road that stays closed through the winter and only opens in early June. Through its "Salviamo le strade di montagna" project the organiser has funded asphalt, masonry and cyclist signage on these very passes for years.

From the Fauniera it is 25 kilometres of descent to Demonte in the Valle Stura. There, at km 137, the last task waits: 6.5 kilometres at 8.6 per cent up to the Madonna del Colletto at 1,304 metres. The course then drops into the Valle Gesso to Valdieri, runs on through Borgo San Dalmazzo and back to Cuneo. Measured, it is 170.7 kilometres and 4,749 metres of climbing against the advertised 172 kilometres and 4,330 metres; only 19 per cent of the route is flat and almost 15 per cent is steep uphill.

Pacing Strategy

The mistake on this loop is made in the first fifty kilometres. From Cuneo to Sampeyre the road is flat to gently rising, the field is still together, and in a big bunch at low speed it is easy to ride twenty watts too many. Arrive at the foot of the Sampeyre already in the red and you still have 120 kilometres and three passes ahead. Treat the opening as an approach rather than a race, and eat more there than feels necessary; the feed at the bottom of the Sampeyre is the last easy chance before an hour and a half of climbing.

The race is decided between km 87 and km 109, not on the Sampeyre. The three steep steps around Marmora come after the long descent on cold legs and carry ramps beyond 25 per cent; you need gearing that lets you stay seated here, or you will lose the legs for the 15 kilometres of Esischie and Fauniera that follow immediately. The upper part sits above 2,000 metres, where power drops measurably and a pace that worked at 1,500 metres becomes an overdraft at 2,400. Deliberately plan the final kilometres to the Fauniera slower.

The descent off the Fauniera is 25 kilometres long, narrow and patchy in places, with grit in the shaded corners. It is a concentration problem, not a rest, and after two hours of climbing the cold airflow chills you badly. Carry a wind vest over the pass. The Madonna del Colletto at km 137 is the shortest of the big climbs at 6.5 kilometres, but it arrives after more than 4,000 metres of climbing and is steadily steep at 8.6 per cent; riding it rather than surviving it depends on the discipline you kept on the Fauniera.

Training plan for Granfondo La Fausto Coppi: 12-week build

For an age-group rider, seven to ten hours in the saddle is realistic depending on form; the organiser's pacing tables run from just under five to over eleven. Despite the racing, the demand is mostly steady aerobic work: three long climbs of ninety minutes to two hours define the day, with two very long descents between them where you barely pedal. Almost fifteen per cent of the course is steep uphill, and the short ramps at Marmora beyond 25 per cent are the only genuine anaerobic spikes.

The goal of preparation is therefore not snap but the ability to produce a good climb after five hours of riding. Build long rides with the climbing loaded into the final third rather than tackling the hills fresh at the start. That is exactly what the Esischie/Fauniera sequence at km 94 and the Madonna del Colletto at km 137 demand. One or two spring rides above 3,500 metres of climbing, and at least one over six hours, belong in the plan.

Conditions are the second training theme. Late June is warm to hot on the valley floor around Cuneo while the Fauniera at 2,481 metres and the Sampeyre at 2,284 can be cold, windy or in cloud. You need both: heat tolerance for the long approaches and a clothing plan for two passes above 2,200 metres each followed by a long descent. If you can, ride above 2,000 metres several times beforehand so you know how far your own power falls off up there.

Finally, equipment and skills. Choose your gearing for the Marmora steps and the Sampeyre's 8.6 per cent average, not for the average of the whole loop. Practise technical descending on narrow, uneven mountain roads with tired hands: 25 kilometres off the Fauniera and 17.7 off the Sampeyre add up to roughly an hour of pure descending, and confidence there saves more than any extra interval session.