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1987 Tour de Suisse (Tour of Switzerland) There is some great John Tesh music early in this old video. Andy wins the Yellow Jersey by only 1 second!! See Bob Roll at 4:55: "If anybody gets rough with Andy then we’re not going to stand for it as a team and especially myself." Jonathon Boyer at 5:30: "We’re in the 20th Century. It will be Nuclear!!" This had turned out to be the greatest and the hardest day in the life of the American team. This was the First Time in Cycling History that an American Team won a major European Stage Race!! The 7-11 Team was awesome and Andy was the team leader. Andy Hampsten says it all at 8:50: “Cycling is now an American sport!!” |
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Andy is the only American cyclist ever to win the Giro d'Italia, the 3 week Tour of Italy. The epic ride through the snow on the Gavia Pass that won him the race in 1988 embodied the spirit of cycling for many Italians, who adopted him as "il nostro Andy" – "our Andy". This incredible shot of Andy covered in snow climbing the Gavia Pass was taken by Sergio Penazzo. Originally issued by Cinelli, this poster has been reworked in a stunning new version by the graphics team at Hampsten Towers. It can be purchased HERE. This poster may well be the finest image of bicycle racing from the last twenty years. We all found Andy to be a blast to ride with. One of the most amazing things you can ever do in cycling is to climb up the Gavia Pass and when you get to the top, listen to Andy recall that fateful day in 1988 in great detail when he won the Giro d'Italia in an amazing snow storm and blizzard. Pez Cycling has a great article HERE that tells some of the story but there's nothing like hearing Andy tell you all about it, especially after riding up the Gavia yourself. |
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1988 Giro d'Italia June 5, 1988 Stage 17 Passo Gavia Wikipedia notes"His greatest moment came in the 1988 Giro d'Italia, on a short stage over the Gavia Pass. Attacking on the climb, Hampsten overcame a blizzard to take the leader's jersey - although he finished second on the stage to Dutchman Erik Breukink. His subsequent overall victory in the 1988 Giro was the first (and to date, only) by a non-European." This video doesn't show Andy but it does show you what the conditions on the Gavia Pass on this fateful day did to many of the strong men of the Giro d'Italia. Truly it was a day when "all heck broke loose". See at 1:50 all the guys are putting on all the clothes they own at the summit of the Gavia. See at 3:20 the riders are freezing and all messed up at the Finish Line in Bormio. For many of them, their dream of riding well in the Giro was shattered that day. For Andy, it was a day where his star shone bright. A day that changed his life as he went on to win the 1988 Giro d'Italia overall!! |
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1992 Tour de France Stage 14 L'Alpe d'Huez See at 0:45 Andy in his Blue and Red Motorola Jersey in the lead group on the flats before the climb. 1:15 Andy with 4 others. 2:20 Andy has only 2 others with him. 3:30 Andy is off the front giving it full gas. 3:50 Andy is in an amazing sea of fans – Where is the road? This is an epic scene as Andy has to clear his way between two human walls of spectators who would open the way at the last possible moment. 4:20 Andy crosses the line with a two arm salute. Wikipedia notes: "Hampsten's final highlight came in the 1992 Tour de France when he dropped his breakaway companions to win the stage to Alpe d'Huez." CyclingNews.com notes: "Speaking of Americans, the first American to win atop Alpe d'Huez was the baby-faced Andy Hampsten in 1992. Riding for the American Motorola team (which later morphed into US Postal Service five years later), Hampsten's victory on the Alpe is considered on par with his win in the 1998 Giro d'Italia. When asked about his solo victory some years later, Andy told me his wife Linda was so excited at the time, she forgot to put her shoes on and burned her feet as she ran down from where she was to find and embrace him." |
Garmin 705 |
Ciclosport HAC4 |
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Climbing |
Climbing |
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| Friday 8/28/09 | North Side of Stelvio Pass | Spondigna to the summit of Passo di Stelvio and down to Bormio | ||||
| Saturday 8/29/09 | South Side of Stelvio Pass | Bormio to the summit of Passo di Stelvio and back down to Bormio | ||||
| Sunday 8/30/09 | North Side of Gavia Pass | Bormio to the summit of Passo di Gavia 6 miles down the South Side then back to the summit of Passo de Gavia and back down to Bormio |
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| Sunday 8/30/09 | North Side of Gavia Pass | Bormio to the summit of Passo di Gavia and back down to Bormio | ||||
| Sunday 8/30/09 | West Side of Mortirolo Pass | Bormio South to Mazzo di Valtellina then up the steepest part of the Mortirolo and back down to Mazzo di Valtellina |
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| Monday 8/31/09 | West Side of Costalunga Pass West Side of Pordoi Pass |
Nova Levante up the West Side of Passo di Costalunga Up the West Side of Passo Pordoi and down to Alleghe |
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| Tuesday 9/01/09 | Staulanza Pass Duran Pass |
Alleghe to summit of Passo Staulanza Up to the summit of Passo Duran and down to Alleghe |
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| Wednesday 9/02/09 | Rest Day | Rest Day | ||||
| Wednesday 9/03/09 | Campolongo Pass Gardena Pass Sella Pass Fedaia Pass |
Alleghe to summit of Passo Campolongo Up to the summit of Passo Gardena Up to the summit of Passo Sella Up to the summit of Passo Fedaia and down to Alleghe |
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| Thursday 9/04/09 | Falzarego Pass Giau Pass |
Alleghe to summit of Passo Falzarego Up to the summit of Passo Giau and down to Alleghe |
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We climbed the beautiful Stelvio Pass from the North Side on Friday, August 28, 2009. We started at the Hotel Post in Spondigna, Italy and rode up the 48 switchbacks of the Stelvio Pass then descended into Bormio. This shows the beautiful road with new asphalt and the smoothly contoured switchbacks. This was the first two switchbacks numbered 48 then 47. |
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Alan Ptak is sporting his Breathless Agony Century Jersey on the Stelvio climb. We felt really strong as we “whipped the dip” which didn’t last long enough. The road just goes UP and UP and we are quickly seeing some front wheel lift off with some 12 and 13% gradients near Switchback 34 here. |
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Note the HUGE Italian Alps on the left early on in this video. The beauty was all around us as we headed into Switchback 32. Fantastico!! |
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There are some extremely large Italian Alps shown near the end of this video. Note the snow on these mountains and this is the end of August: I wouldn’t want to be on the bike up here in a storm!! Stay tuned for tomorrow when we're up here in a storm and it's a totally different experience. :) This is a shockingly beautiful climb with constantly changing scenery. |
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A truly breathtaking climb, the road switchbacks right up the side of the mountain. We called it the “Stairway to Heaven”. This documents that I am already brain dead because in the video, I said it’s Switchback 37 but this is actually Switchback 27. :) The switchbacks are numbered from 48 at the bottom to 1 at the top on this climb. |
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Alan Ptak is interviewed about his discovery of a nice and lightweight Brooks Saddle. Alan, the inventor of the “Breathless Agony Jet Pack” (which is still under development) is sporting his Breathless Agony Jersey as he is looking for some spare parts near the top of this awesome climb. We believe this could be Troy Raffelson's (aka "Big Thor's") old bike. :) |
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Turn up your speakers. As we climbed up by Switchback 21, we were greeted by a musical chorus of the cows on the Stelvio!! Each cow seemed to have a bell on and it was truly music to our ears as we climbed up the side of this beautiful mountain in beat to the music from these cows!! These cows have no fences and are grazing in one of the most incredible valleys in the world. I wonder if they know the beauty of the Italian Alps that are just up the valley here? |
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This video recreates the actual experience with Chuck “Steam Locomotive” Bramwell adding a chorus line on top of the cow bells ringing in the valley below. Heh, it’s not easy cranking up these steep climbs!! :) WARNING: The end of this video shows the SHEER DROPOFF off the side of the “Stairway to Heaven” so you may want a barf bag nearby. Yes, Chuck was “one handing it” with his left hand securely on the handlebar and his right hand holding on real tight to the camera. |
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Turn up your speakers and take in the music of a pure alpine waterfall. We were greeted by magnificent purple and yellow wildflowers all around as we climbed up the Stelvio. |
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The view from the top at Switchback 1 on the Stelvio was breathtaking. Temperatures were 60 degrees when we arrived here. We had a perfect afternoon to climb this. Stay tuned: we would find out how cold this pass could be when a rain storm comes in tomorrow as we climbed it from the other side. Don’t miss the “Stairway to Heaven” at the end of this video where you can see the very tiny cars snaking their way up the 48 Switchbacks below. |
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The view from the top at Switchback 1 on the Stelvio was breathtaking. Across the valley on the top of the facing sheer granite cliff, the “Tibet Inn” is shown. We didn’t make it over there but it sure looked interesting. After this video was taken, we did a little shopping at the stores at the top. Troy, Alan, and I each bought beautiful Stelvio Jerseys to help us remember this day. The day was topped off by a group of us being lead down the other side of the Stelvio around many switchbacks and through a few very dark tunnels by Andy Hampsten. Really good fun but I wasn’t able to take any videos on the descent. The day ended at our Hotel in Bormio where we stayed 3 nights. Our goal was to fuel up and recover for the next day's challenge: little did we know what that would include!! |
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After a beautiful but hard day climbing the Passo di Campolongo, Gardena, Sella, and Marmolada, we were rocking back down to our Hotel in Alleghe. I was taking this movie when surprisingly, Steve Huddleston and Eric Butler came racing by me. They were on fire as I was going backwards filming this. :) We call this "Steve's Race Video". Of particular note is the power shown by Steve in the Neon Yellow Windbreaker as he accelerates out of the saddle. This is especially impressive because Steve is an "old guy". He wrote me: "Strangely enough, I just got a call from Lance. He saw the video and said they still have an opening at Radio Shack. I'm not sure if I can get loose though!!" |
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After I put the camera away in my back pocket, I was able to hit the hammer and catch Steve and Eric. We were “smelling the barn” and FLYING back to our Hotel in Alleghe with each of us doing some good hard pulls at the front of the paceline. It was a truly great way to finish a really hard but beautiful day in the saddle. |