A Viagem continua!
Seguiremos da região de Interlaken para Stelvio, passando por Davos e Bormio. A estrada deste percurso é considerada como uma das mais belas do planeta. Principalmente o trecho que liga Bormio a Stelvio. Veja as infos retiradas da wikipedia:
Stelvio Pass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Stelvio Pass (
Italian:
Passo dello Stelvio;
German:
Stilfser Joch), located in
Italy, at 2757 m (9045 feet) is the
highest paved mountain pass in the
Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the
Alps, slightly below the
Col de l'Iseran (2770 m, 9088 feet).
Location
The pass is located in the
Ortler Alps in Italy between
Stilfs ("Stelvio" in Italian) in
South Tyrol and
Bormio in the
province of Sondrio. It is some 75 km (47 mi) from
Bolzano and just 200 m from the
Swiss border. The
Umbrail Pass runs northwards from the Stelvio's western ramp. The "Three languages peak"
(Dreisprachenspitze) above the pass is so named because this is where the
Italian,
German and
Romansh languages meet.
The road connects the
Valtellina with the upper
Adige valley (the
Vinschgau) and
Meran. Adjacent to the pass road there is a large summer skiing area. Important mountains nearby include
Ortler,
Thurwieserspitze,
Trafoier Eiswand,
de:Monte Scorluzzo,
Piz Umbrail, and
Piz Cotschen/Rötlspitz/Punta Rosa.
[1]
History
The original road was built in 1820-25 by the
Austrian Empire to connect the former Austrian province of
Lombardia with the rest of Austria, covering a climb of 1871 m. The engineer and project manager was
Carlo Donegani (1775–1845). Since then, the route has changed very little. Its sixty
[citation needed] hairpin turns, 48 of them on the northern side numbered with stones, are a challenge to motorists.
Stirling Moss
went off the road here during a vintage car event in the 1990s, with an
onboard video of his incident being shown on satellite TV.
Before the end of
World War I, it formed the border between the
Austro-Hungarian Empire and the
Italian Kingdom. The
Swiss had an outpost and a hotel (which was destroyed) on the
Dreisprachenspitze (literally, Three-Language-Peak). During
World War I,
fierce battles were fought in the ice and snow of the area, with gun
fire even crossing the Swiss area at times. The three nations made an
agreement not to fire over Swiss territory, which jutted out in between
Austria (to the north) and Italy (to the south). Instead they could fire
down the pass, as Swiss territory was up and around the peak.
[2][3] After 1919, with the expansion of Italy, the pass lost its strategic importance.
The Stelvio Pass retains an importance for sport when it is open from
June to September. Countless cyclists and motorcyclists struggle to get
to the highest stretch of road in the Eastern Alps. It is the highest
finish of any Grand Tour.
[4] The
Giro d'Italia often crosses the Stelvio Pass (it was crossed by the Giro for the first time in
1953, when
Coppi beat
Koblet). The last winner on the pass was
Thomas De Gendt
in 2012. Every year, the pass is closed to motor vehicles on one day in
late August when about 8000 cyclists ride on the Stelvio.
Bormio regularly hosts
World Cup ski racing; its
Pista Stelvio is among the most challenging men's
downhill courses on the circuit.
The Stelvio Pass was also picked by the British automotive show
Top Gear as its choice for the "greatest driving road in the world", although their search was concentrated only in Europe.
[5][6]
This conclusion was reached after the team went in search of a road
that would satisfy every "petrolhead's" driving fantasies in the
premiere of the show's
10th season. Top Gear
later decided that the
Transfăgărăşan Highway in
Romania was possibly a superior driving road.
In 2008,
Moto Guzzi started selling a
Stelvio model, named after the famous mountain pass.
