Course guide · 2027

Chianti Ultra Trail 2027: course profile, climbs and cut-offs

By Guglielmo Published · Organiser's figures checked

The Chianti Ultra Trail is 73.9 km with ↑ 3,029 m of climbing, a loop from Radda in Chianti: 86 flat-equivalent km. No single climb dominates; the biggest is ↑ 159 m in 2.1 km to Poggio San Polo. Villa San Michele, 896 m, is the high point.

Race day: Saturday, 20 March 2027, start at 07:00 in Radda in Chianti; time limit 16:00. Part of Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB, 18 – 21 March 2027, Radda in Chianti, Italy.

Course facts · 2027

Distance
73.9 kmOrganiser
Gain
↑ 3,029 mOrganiser
Loss
↓ 3,029 mOrganiser
D+ per km
41 mOrganiser's figures
Flat-equivalent
86.3 kmPendio, from the GPX
High point
896 mPendio, from the GPX

Header: 73 km and 3,000 m; this page uses the course table. Some cut-offs on the page are dated to an earlier edition; they are read as the same time of day on race day.

Elevation · Chianti Ultra Trail peak 896 m
0 km73.1 km
Hardest climb2.1 km @ +7.7 %
Hardest descent1.9 km @ −10.2 %
Distance
73.1 km
Gain
↑ 2,843 m
Loss
↓ 2,843 m
Peak
896 m

The GPX's own numbers, a little under the organiser's figures.

Where is the Chianti Ultra Trail decided?

On the climb out of Castello di Albola to Villa San Michele, with the race three quarters done.

The climbs on this course are short: the biggest, up to Poggio San Polo, gains 159 m. The steep ones come late, around Castello di Albola.

The first half comes in long legs over smaller climbs. The first leg, to Arillo Terrabianca, is 12 km that drop more than they climb; at the time-limit pace you are there at half past nine on Saturday morning. The leg on to Poggio San Polo is as long again and climbs more, with the course’s biggest climb at its end; at Poggio San Polo nearly a third of the work is done, at noon at the time-limit pace. The tightest cut-off is there, four and a half hours after the start: at an even pace, only a finish under 14:13 makes it, against a time limit of 16:00. Half the work is done on the leg to Tenuta Perano; the next cut-off, there, eight hours after the start, is made by any even finish under 14:49, and the ones after it leave more room still.

The leg from Tenuta Perano ends with the biggest descent of the course and a steep climb straight back up to the castle. At Castello di Albola more than two thirds of the work is done, at ten to six at the time-limit pace. Out of Albola, the leg to Villa San Michele is the hardest kilometre for kilometre: 538 m of climbing in 8.5 km. The steepest of the bigger climbs is on it, at 15 % on average. At Villa San Michele four fifths of the work is done; at the time-limit pace you reach it at eight in the evening.

The last leg is also the longest. From Villa San Michele it is 15 km back to Radda in Chianti, with two steep drops in its first half and 440 m of climbing still to come. At the time-limit pace you finish at eleven at night.

Organiser's distances and heights; Pendio's shares and clock.

How tight are the Chianti Ultra Trail cut-offs, leg by leg?

Poggio San Polo has the tightest cut-off, 4:30 after the start with a third of the effort done: an even effort finishing under 14:13 gets there in time.

Organiser: km, ↑, ↓, cut-offs and supplies (2027). Pendio: the shares and the even finish. How we measure courses.
Legkm ↑ m↓ m DistanceEffort Cut-offEven finish within
→ Arillo Terrabiancakm 11.8 · drink 11.8 387504 16 % 15.5 % — —
→ Poggio San Polokm 23.7 · food 11.9 518430 16 % 16.2 % 4:3011:30 14:13
→ Castello di Meletokm 32.5 · drink 8.8 294392 12 % 11.3 % — —
→ Tenuta Peranokm 40.3 · food 7.8 368257 11 % 11.0 % 8:0015:00 14:49
→ Castello di Albolakm 50.3 · food 10.0 484387 14 % 14.0 % 10:3017:30 15:26
→ Villa San Michelekm 58.8 · food 8.5 538304 11 % 13.1 % 12:4519:45 15:43
→ Radda in Chiantifinish · km 73.9 15.1 440755 20 % 18.9 % 16:0023:00 16:00

The course in detail

Flat-equivalent distance

86.3 km for 73.1 km on the map

Terrain

Climbing 44 %Flat 9 %Descending 47 %

Distance in each grade band
GradeDistanceShare
≤ −20 %0.5 km0.6 %
−20 / −15 %3.1 km4.2 %
−15 / −10 %7.4 km10.1 %
−10 / −6 %8.9 km12.2 %
−6 / −3 %8.5 km11.6 %
−3 / −1 %5.9 km8.0 %
−1 / +1 %6.5 km8.8 %
+1 / +3 %4.9 km6.7 %
+3 / +6 %8.3 km11.3 %
+6 / +10 %7.6 km10.4 %
+10 / +15 %7.8 km10.7 %
+15 / +20 %2.9 km4.0 %
> +20 %0.9 km1.3 %

D+ per 10 km

0–10 km338 m
10–20 km335 m
20–30 km411 m
30–40 km505 m
40–50 km477 m
50–60 km579 m
60–70 km248 m
70–73.1 km150 m

Biggest climbs

From (km)Length (km)D+ (m)AverageSteepest 100 m
20.52.1159+7.7 %+21.6 %
53.11.1152+14.5 %+22.3 %
7.91.6140+8.8 %+18.4 %
48.41.2136+11.7 %+20.7 %
51.41.3124+9.3 %+28.6 %

Biggest descents

From (km)Length (km)D− (m)AverageSteepest 100 m
46.41.9197−10.2 %−24.2 %
61.02.0196−9.8 %−19.1 %
64.11.6186−11.3 %−18.9 %
0.01.6129−7.8 %−16.1 %
5.41.2120−9.8 %−19.0 %

How does it compare?

Organiser: km and ↑. Pendio: the rest. Every course side by side.
Coursekm↑ mD+ per kmFlat-equivalentSteeper than ±10 %
Chianti Marathon Trail 46.81,64035 m53.5 km28 %
Peades d'Aigua - PDA 54.83,36461 m79.2 km49 %
OCC 61.23,34255 m83.2 km43 %
Chianti Ultra Trail 73.93,02941 m86.3 km31 %
Ultra Trail Chianti Castles 124.04,81039 m146.1 km32 %

Plan your Chianti Ultra Trail

Your target time, shared out by effort between Arillo Terrabianca, Poggio San Polo, Castello di Meleto and three more aid stations, with the margin on every cut-off, the fueling plan and a pace card.

The course and its GPX on the organiser's site ↗ Add to Pendio

Adds the Chianti Ultra Trail 2027 course to your Pendio account, with its aid stations as a race plan. Your phone or browser downloads the file from the organiser's own site, and Pendio checks it against the file this page measured.

Questions

How long is the Chianti Ultra Trail?

73.9 km, ↑ 3,029 m and ↓ 3,029 m, a loop from Radda in Chianti (the organiser's 2027 figures); their GPX measures 73.1 km and ↑ 2,843 m.

How much of the Chianti Ultra Trail is flat?

Almost none: 9 % of the Chianti Ultra Trail is flat, about 6 km; 44 % climbs and 47 % descends.

What are the Chianti Ultra Trail cut-offs?

4:30 at Poggio San Polo (km 23.7), 8:00 at Tenuta Perano (km 40.3), 10:30 at Castello di Albola (km 50.3), 12:45 at Villa San Michele (km 58.8) and 16:00 at the finish, counted from the 07:00 start (the organiser's 2027 figures).

Which Chianti Ultra Trail cut-off is the tightest?

Poggio San Polo, 4:30 after the start with a third of the effort done: an even effort finishing slower than 14:13 gets there late, before any time stopped.

What is the biggest climb on the Chianti Ultra Trail?

↑ 159 m in 2.1 km to Poggio San Polo: 8 % on average, 22 % over its steepest 100 m.