Terres Monviso - 100 Miglia Monviso
100 Miglia del Monviso
Saluzzo (CN)
Race guide
Updated 18 July 2026
The 100 Miglia del Monviso is a 160 km mountain ultra that loops out of Saluzzo, in Italy's Piedmont, and swings deep into the high country beneath Monviso before returning to town. With 6608 m of positive climbing and a high point of 2860 m, it is a genuine mountain hundred-miler: long, steep, and run largely on the terrain that gives the Terres Monviso its name. What defines the race is its shape. You start and finish on the same cobbles of Saluzzo at a little over 350 m, but between kilometre 58 and kilometre 100 the course throws almost all of its serious altitude at you, cresting nearly 2860 m before the long descent home. Runners have until 15:00 on Day 3 to close the loop, so this is as much a test of sustained forward motion over two nights as it is of raw climbing legs.
The course: a high loop out of Saluzzo
The route begins in Piazza Cavour in the heart of Saluzzo at 353 m and returns to the town at 356 m, so the net elevation change is essentially zero over 160 km. Everything in between is accumulated the hard way, one climb at a time, to a total of 6608 m of ascent. The course is punctuated by four life bases that structure the day: Crissolo at 58 km (1216 m), Casteldelfino at 100 km (1611 m), Sampeyre at 117 km (1151 m) and Brossasco at 140 km (789 m). The altitude profile of those checkpoints tells the story of the terrain. The first 58 km to Crissolo gains only about 860 m net but sits inside a much larger climbing total, meaning the opening third is rolling and repeatedly up-and-down rather than one clean ascent. From Crissolo the course commits to the high mountains, reaching the 2860 m high point before dropping to Casteldelfino at 100 km. The back half, from Casteldelfino through Sampeyre and Brossasco, trends steadily downhill toward Saluzzo, losing more than 1200 m of net altitude across the final 60 km.
Where the race is won and lost: the Crissolo-to-Casteldelfino high section
The decisive part of the course is the 42 km between Crissolo (58 km, 1216 m) and Casteldelfino (100 km, 1611 m). Somewhere in this stretch the route tops out at 2860 m, which is roughly 1650 m above Crissolo and the single biggest sustained effort of the day. This is the section that separates finishers from non-finishers: it is high, it is remote, and for most of the field it will be tackled through the first night when temperatures at altitude drop sharply. Manage this block conservatively. Arriving at Crissolo with legs still capable of a long, patient climb matters far more than any time banked over the rolling opening 58 km. The reward for cresting the high point in good shape is that the course gives back: from Casteldelfino onward the trend is downhill, so runners who reach 100 km intact can make real time on the descents to Sampeyre, Brossasco and home. Blow up on the high traverse, though, and the long night sections that follow become a grind against the clock.
Pacing, fuelling and the four life bases
The life bases are your anchors. Crissolo (58 km) is the last major service before the high mountains, so leave it carrying enough food, water and warm kit for a long, cold, high-altitude section to Casteldelfino at 100 km. Casteldelfino, Sampeyre (117 km) and Brossasco (140 km) are all crew points as well as life bases, and the finish at Saluzzo is a crew point too, so runners with support should plan their resupply, shoe changes and morale stops around those four locations. The gaps between them shape your fuelling strategy. The 42 km carry from Crissolo to Casteldelfino is the longest and hardest, at the highest altitude and the lowest temperatures, so it demands the most carried nutrition and the most disciplined eating. After Casteldelfino the aid spacing tightens: 17 km to Sampeyre, then 23 km to Brossasco, then a final 20 km to the finish. With the single Day 3 15:00 cut-off governing the whole event, the practical challenge is keeping a steady, sustainable pace through two nights rather than chasing intermediate splits.
Conditions to expect
This is a high-mountain race and it should be prepared for like one. With a high point of 2860 m and a life-base-to-life-base carry that stays up in the alpine zone for tens of kilometres, the cold at altitude, especially overnight, is the environmental factor most likely to catch runners out. A robust layering system, working headtorch and reliable warm kit are not optional insurance for the middle of the field; they are the difference between moving well and stalling on the high traverse. The descent profile matters for the body as well. From the 2860 m high point down to Casteldelfino at 1611 m, and then progressively down through 1151 m at Sampeyre, 789 m at Brossasco and back to around 355 m at Saluzzo, the course delivers a great deal of cumulative downhill. Quads that are unprepared for sustained descending will suffer badly over the final 60 km, so descent-specific strength work and careful downhill pacing early on pay off when the race turns for home.
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Checkpoints & cut-offs
⚠ Auto-researched from public sources — aid stations and cut-offs may be incomplete. Confirm against the official roadbook before race day.
0 km · 353 m · —
58 km · 1216 m · —
100 km · 1611 m · —
117 km · 1151 m · —
140 km · 789 m · —
160 km · 356 m · Day 3 15:00
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Course data researched from public sources — verify against the official roadbook.