Greatest cycling climbs #10 Colle delle Finestre

Colle delle Finestre (el. 2178 m.) is a mountain pass in the Cottian Alps, in the Italian reigion of Piemonte, Italy, linking Susa Valley and Val Chisone.

2011 Giro: Colle delle Finestre (gazzetta.it)

The road serves as tourist attraction although the last 8 kilometres of the road from Susa are not asphalted. From Susa the mountain pass is 18,6 kilometres long at an average of 9,1% (height gain: 1694 m), the maximum gradient being 14%.

Colle delle Finestre has appeared 2 times in Giro d'Italia:

Saturday May 28, 2005 - Stage 19: Savigliano - Sestriere (Le Valli Olimpiche), 190 km

"Totally isolated and left behind by the lead group with 40 kilometres to go, it seemed Paolo Savoldelli's time in the maglia rosa was facing certain death. However, a combination of guts, courage and cramping saw the race eventually swing back in his favour, and barring disaster, 'Il Falco' will fly into Milano tomorrow afternoon to claim overall victory in the 88th Giro d'Italia."

See more at: cyclingnews.com

Stage 19 results

1 Jose' Rujano Guillen (Ven) Selle Italia-Colombia                5.49.30 (32.618 km/h)
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                               0.26
3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi                              1.37
4 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                      1.53
5 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto                               1.55
6 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze                                   
7 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team              
8 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems                            
9 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Davitamon-Lotto                 2.38
10 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare                    5.07

General classification after stage 19

1 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team      88.01.43
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita                               0.28
3 Jose' Rujano Guillen (Ven) Selle Italia-Colombia                   0.45
4 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi                              2.42
5 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir                      3.11
6 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze                               4.22
7 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Illes Balears                              11.15
8 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole                           11.38
9 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo                              11.40
10 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare                   12.33

Saturday May 28, 2011 - Stage 20: Verbania - Sestriere, 242km

2011 Giro Stage 20 profile (gazzetta.it)

Vasili Kiryienka (Movistar) soloed to victory in the final mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia, taking off from his 12 breakaway companions to conquer the day's two climbs. Jose Rujano (Androni Giacattoli) climbed to second place, 4:43 down, with Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha clawing his way to third at 4:50.

The real race, though, was behind Kiryienka. Seemingly only maglia rosa Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank -SunGard) stayed calm and collected as he easily stayed with the other top favourites, and seemed content to watch them wear each other out. Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) cemented his overall second place by putting another 22 seconds into third-placed Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas-Cannondale, who exploded on the closing climb.

See more at: cyclingnews.com

Stage 20 results

1	Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team	6:17:03
2	José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Androni Giocattoli	0:04:43
3	Joaquím Rodríguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	0:04:50
4	Carlos Alberto Betancourt Gomez (Col) Acqua & Sapone	0:05:31
5	John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	0:05:54
6	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD	0:05:58
7	Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
8	Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard
9	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC
10	Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana	0:06:16
11	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:06:20

....

145 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Omega Pharma-Lotto                  0:42:38

General classification after stage 20

1	Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard	83:34:25
2	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD	0:05:18
3	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:06:14
4	John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	0:07:49
5	Joaquím Rodríguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	0:09:27
6	José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Androni Giocattoli	0:10:23
7	Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana	0:10:38
8	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC	0:10:51
9	Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:12:56
10	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:12:57

...

119

Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Omega Pharma-Lotto

3:39:49