Passo di Monte Bondone - Italy
As this is a long ride, managing the effort and settling into the ride is important. And just enjoy the ride!
Cycling the Passo Monte Bondone is a classic, demanding Alpine climb with a quiet sense of history and scale.
Most riders start from Trento, where the road begins climbing almost immediately. The gradient settles into a steady, testing rhythm—rarely savage, but never generous. Early on, you wind through forest and small hamlets, the city dropping away quickly as the road carves upward in long, deliberate bends. Monte Bondone doesn’t rely on spectacle or extreme gradients. Its challenge lies in length, consistency, and the calm persistence it demands—an old-school climb that rewards steady effort and respect for the mountain.
I rode the mountain form western side, form Riva del Garda which is equally as wonderful.
The Monte Bondone Pass from Riva del Garda is a superb ride that combines a wide variety of mountain environments: valley riding at the start, sustained climbing toward the summit, and the high-alpine meadows of the Viote plateau. Monte Bondone is frequently used in the Giro d’Italia, although usually climbed from the eastern side.
The ascent described here starts in Dro and is 34.4 km long, with 1,662 m of elevation gain. It first crosses the minor Passo San Udalrico at 595 m, followed by a short descent into the Cavedine Valley, before the real work begins on the SP85 toward Passo Monte Bondone. The pass itself is located at Vason, a ski resort at 1,650 m.
Starting from Riva del Garda, the full ride is nearly 50 km long, but it is extremely rewarding thanks to the variety of roads, landscapes, and scenery. A fast and enjoyable descent provides a fitting reward for the effort on the climb.
The ride can be divided into four distinct sections. The first section climbs gradually from Riva del Garda to the warm-up ascent of Passo San Udalrico. This is followed by a descent through the Cavedine Valley. The third section tackles the main climb on the SP85, and the final stretch leads across the Viote plateau to Vason at 1,650 m. Overall, this is a beautiful and highly recommended ride.
To Passo Udalrico
The first part of the ride takes you from Riva up to Passo Udalrico. This climb is around 7km long and covers 460m elevation gain. Coming from Riva, the climb starts after around 13km of riding.
It is early morning and the sun is illuminating the rock faces to my left in a yellow glow.
The pass is a gentle flow of hairpins and ramps and gets the legs moving.
It passes right by Castello di Drena, guarding over the valley.
Cavedine Valley
Onwards for small downhill through the Cavedine Valley. This might to some people be an unremarkable stretch of about 5km from Passo San Udelrico to the SP85 turnoff.
It is a lovely working valley though, there are vineyards, orchards, olive groves and it is guarded by two large castles on either side, Castello di Drena to the South and Castello Madruzzo to the north.
Up the SP85 to Vanson
Onto the main event and the SP85 all the way to the top. 22 at times gruelling km with an elevation gain of 1,200m. This is a super irregular climb with long, long and at times steep straights, very few hairpins and a couple of false flats.
Once you are at the SP85 road sign showing 23km (they count down from 39 at the start of the road), the pain in the legs stops and the road evens out towards the Viote plain. Lovely views over the local mountains and the Dolomites open up.
Last push and descending
Once the last km from Viote to the pass at Vason via an up and down road through the ski area have been negotiated, a super long descent awaits.
The road back is wide and mainly in good condition.
The lack of hairpins makes for a fast downhill on long ramps down the SP85, followed by a lovely flowing descent from Passo San Udelrico to Dro.
Super stuff.
Once you reach Viote your legs are likely to be seriously burning.
Monte Bondone from Dro
Length: 34.4km
Altitude gain: 1662 m
Max altitude: 1661 m
Average gradient: 4.8%
Max gradient: 13%
Route Tip: Apart for route outlined above, Passo Monte Bondone can be reached a number of ways. The route shown climbs from Riva del Garda via Dro past Lake Cavedine and then to the top. It descends through the Cavedine Valley and Passo Udalrico..
Other popular ascends are from Trento which is a 17.3km climb covering 1423m elevation gain (the road is on occasions also used as a race track).
Alternatively, you can climb monte Bondone from Aldeno which is a 23km climb cover 1452m altitude gain. This route has on occasions been used by the Giro, last in 2023 (at the time of writing).
