Stage 4, Passo di Mortirolo

Ok, so our by now well established routine, up around 730, eat breakfast, on the road by 830 or 900, was continued today, for the Mortirolo. This is one of the hardest climbs of the Giro, and no one less than Lance himself called it the hardest climb he had ever done. To get to the Mortirolo. which is a rather narrow forrested road most of the way, and not a grand pass in the tradition of the Gavia and Stelvio, we headed south out of Bormio, descending almost 2000 vertical feet to the start of the climb. Because of construction on the road, we had to do a special "surprise" climb in the middle of the descent....on the right, a fresh rider contemplates the days ride from the van, which each day contains the essentials: bananas, gatorade, water...