🚴♂️ ROAD OF THE OLIVE TREES (Nanto)
Classification: RED
A climb that doesn't scream, but rather wears you down. The Strada degli Ulivi is a classic "endurance climb" in the Berici Hills: long, steady, never really challenging, but capable of gradually draining you. Here, you don't win by sprinting, but by being patient.
The Strada degli Ulivi is another great classic of the Berico area, the view that can be enjoyed from the hairpin bends overlooking the Euganean Hills is worth the price of the ticket and the great effort! Elected as the Most Beautiful Place of Berici Climbs at the BericiClimbs Awards 2024! The place is also called "Gateway to the Rising Sun" because through an iron gate you can admire the sunrise that on the clearest days even rises from the Adriatic Sea! The profile of the Euganean Hills at dawn is a unique spectacle! Slopes above 10% almost constantly leave no escape especially if you travel this road in full sun you risk overheating the "engine" and going over revving ... being completely exposed without shade. Vast expanses of olive groves in the first part give it the name Strada degli Ulivi, the Torretta instead is the crossroads located halfway up the climb, the intersection with the road that leads to Villabalzana.
📊 General information
- Location: Nanto (VI)
- Length: 6,81 km
- Difference: 397 m
- Average slope: 5,4%
- Starting altitude: ~ 27 m
- Arrival altitude: ~ 424 m
- Maximum slope: ~11–12 % (short ramps)
- Main exposure: West / Southwest
🧮 Technical analysis of the climb
The profile shows a climb progressive, with a gradient that increases as the kilometers pass and without real walls, but with continuous changes in pace.
🔹 Zone 1 – Approach (0 – 1,5 km | 3–4,5%)
We exit the town of Nanto gently.
The road climbs imperceptibly:
- slopes that are always rideable
- aerobic threshold pace
- ideal for finding the right cadence
Here the climb deceives you: it seems easy, but it is only preparing the ground.
🔹 Zone 2 – Central Body (1,5 – 3,5 km | 5–7%)
It is the heart of the Olive Tree Road:
- constant slope
- long stretches at 6–7%
- very few moments of recovery
Physically it is the most selective part:
- you pedal at constant watts
- lactate builds up without you realizing it
- the heart rate rises slowly but surely
It's the classic climb, where those who overdo it at the beginning pay dearly.
🔹 Zone 3 – Rolling Phase (3,5 – 5,5 km | 4–8%)
The road becomes more complex:
- alternating regular sections and short ramps
- frequent curves and changes in slope
- some tears around 9–10%
Here the climb becomes psychological:
- it never ends
- it forces you to constantly adjust your pace
- breaks the fluidity
It is the area that consumes the most mental energy.
🔹 Zone 4 – High-Altitude Finish (5,5–6,8 km | 4–6%)
When the legs are empty, the road becomes softer:
- more regular slopes
- long cycleable stretches
- ascending false flat trend
But be careful: this is where the accumulated fatigue takes its toll. The summit isn't reached immediately, and the risk is that you'll stall out from exhaustion, not the steepness.
😰 Road sensations
The Olive Tree Road is a climb devious:
- it doesn't scare you
- it doesn't break you
- it slowly consumes you
Legs burn for sum of effort, not through violent effort. It's the typical climb that "doesn't hurt right away, but hurts later."
🌿 Natural environment and landscape
The name is no coincidence: you pedal immersed in one of the most Mediterranean landscapes of the Berici Hills.
- terraced olive groves
- neat vineyards
- sparse oak woods
- scent of aromatic herbs on hot days
Going up, the view opens towards:
- the Vicenza plain
- the soft ridges of the Berici Hills
- bright glimpses typical of limestone hills
It's a climb light, never gloomy, perfect in the mid-seasons.
🏛️ Historical and artistic aspects
The Nanto area is historically linked to:
- to the extraction of the Nanto Stone, used in Venetian villas and palaces
- to the rural civilization of the Berici
Along the climb you will encounter:
- ancient districts
- votive capitals
- rural houses in local stone
It is a road that tells the story of the symbiosis between man and the hill.
🧠 How to deal with it
This is not a climb for sprints, but for metronome.
Recommended Reports
- Compact 50/34
- Cassette 11–30 or 11–32
Ideal strategy
- First stretch cautious → don't be fooled by the initial ease
- Central area at a constant pace → stable watts, no jerking
- Part moved in control → seated, agile relationship, fluid cadence
- Final progression → if you managed well, you can raise here
It's the perfect climb to train the uphill resistance.
🪪 Identikit of the climb
- Type: cross-country climb, from a pass
- Style: regular but exhausting
- Ideal soil: training, granfondo, quality outings
- Not for: who is looking for explosive walls
- Perfect for: diesel, mountain bikers-climbers
🔴 In short
La Road of Olives It challenges you not with brutality, but with endurance.
It's a climb that gets to your legs, kilometer after kilometer, until it turns into a test of cycling maturity.
Here, he who knows how to wait wins.
