Valle dei Laghi – Arco
Mountain Passes: Viote (Monte Bondone), Passo Bordala, Passo Santa Barbara
Level: 4/5
From Valle dei Laghi to Arco you could also just roll downhill. But since a stage without passes is a no-go at the TOUR Transalp, a few surprises await to make this last day challenging once again. First, the route leads playfully out of the valley via Terlago and Ciago to Vezzano and soon left towards Cavedine. The valley of the Sarca, which now flows into Lake Garda via Pietramurata and Arco, is now left to the right and the route explores the mountain range that separates this valley from the Adige Valley. This is where this stage lets off steam and only leaves this mountainous region again shortly before the finish. The first pass, Viote, is a saddle below the summit of Monte Bondone from which the road descends to Aldeno. You now roll downhill on the mountain flank facing the Adige valley, but it does not go all the way down into the valley. On this flank, you finally climb past the idyllic Lago di Cei up to Passo Bordala. But this is not yet the crossing back into the Sarca Valley. This pass first leads into the Val di Gresta, a side valley characterised by fields and acres. The short descent in this valley leads to Ronzo-Chienis and only now turns off to the last pass of this Transalp, the Passo Santa Barbara, which still rises 1100 metres above Lake Garda. A narrow mountain road winds down through the forest to Bolognano. Now there are only two flat kilometres to the magnolia avenue at the church square in Arco.
