Course guide · 2027

Ultra Trail Chianti Castles 2027: course profile, climbs and aid stations

By Guglielmo Published · Organiser's figures checked

The Ultra Trail Chianti Castles is 124.0 km with ↑ 4,810 m of climbing, a loop from Radda in Chianti: 146 flat-equivalent km. No single climb dominates; the biggest is ↑ 201 m in 1.7 km after Castello di Brolio, steep. Villa San Michele, 887 m, is the high point.

Race day: Saturday, 20 March 2027, start at 04:00 in Radda in Chianti; time limit 26:30. Part of Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB, 18 – 21 March 2027, Radda in Chianti, Italy.

Course facts · 2027

Distance
124.0 kmOrganiser
Gain
↑ 4,810 mOrganiser
Loss
↓ 4,809 mOrganiser
D+ per km
39 mOrganiser's figures
Flat-equivalent
146.1 kmPendio, from the GPX
High point
887 mPendio, from the GPX

Header: 123 km and 5,200 m; this page uses the course table. Some cut-offs on the page belong to another edition with a different timetable; they are left out and the time limit kept.

Elevation · Ultra Trail Chianti Castles peak 887 m
0 km122.0 km
Hardest climb1.7 km @ +12.0 %
Hardest descent1.5 km @ −13.9 %
Distance
122.0 km
Gain
↑ 5,006 m
Loss
↓ 5,007 m
Peak
887 m

The GPX's own numbers, a little under the organiser's figures. The organiser's file has two steps in its elevation, at km 84.7 and 85.4, which the profile shows.

Where is the Ultra Trail Chianti Castles decided?

On the leg from Castello di Brolio to Monteluco, before half-way.

No climb here is big: the course stays between about 300 m and 900 m, so what counts is where the steep ones cluster. The race starts at four in the morning, and the first legs are long and gentle. The leg to Arillo Terrabianca drops more than it climbs, and the one from Poggio San Polo to Castello di Brolio is nearly 14 km of gentler ground. Not quite a third of the work is done at Brolio; at the time-limit pace you reach Poggio San Polo at nine on Saturday morning and Brolio at ten to twelve.

Castello di Brolio to Monteluco is 14 km with 835 m of climbing, the biggest share of work of any leg. The biggest climb, the biggest descent and the steepest climb of the course all fall on it, one after the other, all steep. At the time-limit pace you reach Monteluco at ten past three. The last of the course’s bigger climbs comes just after Monteluco; from there the leg to Cantalici drops more than it climbs, and Cantalici is halfway by effort, twenty past five at the time-limit pace.

The longest stretch between aid stations comes next: 15 km from Cantalici to Gaiole in Chianti, downhill on balance, then a short hop to Castello di Meleto. At the time-limit pace you are in Gaiole at twenty to nine in the evening and at Tenuta Perano at twenty past eleven.

The second half climbs in smaller pieces, through the night. Three quarters of the work is done on the way to Castello di Albola, a leg with one steep drop in its second half. Then comes the hardest leg per kilometre: Castello di Albola to Villa San Michele, 482 m of climbing in 8.5 km. At the time-limit pace that is between half past one and twenty to four on Sunday morning. The last leg is 15 km from Villa San Michele to Radda in Chianti, downhill on balance, with two steep drops early. At the time-limit pace you finish at half past six on Sunday morning.

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

Where does the Ultra Trail Chianti Castles' effort go, aid station by aid station?

Organiser: km, ↑, ↓ and supplies (2027). Pendio: the shares. How we measure courses.
Legkm ↑ m↓ m DistanceEffort
→ Arillo Terrabiancakm 11.8 · drink 11.8 348465 10 % 9.1 %
→ Poggio San Polokm 23.7 · food 11.9 471384 10 % 9.5 %
→ Castello di Broliokm 37.5 · food 13.8 426478 11 % 10.6 %
→ Montelucokm 51.6 · food 14.1 835492 11 % 13.0 %
→ Cantalicikm 62.5 · food 10.9 323609 9 % 8.1 %
→ Gaiole in Chiantikm 77.8 · food 15.3 553699 13 % 12.5 %
→ Castello di Meletokm 81.5 · drink 3.7 90116 3 % 2.8 %
→ Tenuta Peranokm 90.4 · food 8.9 461281 7 % 7.6 %
→ Castello di Albolakm 100.4 · food 10.0 447351 8 % 8.1 %
→ Villa San Michelekm 108.9 · food 8.5 482246 7 % 8.0 %
→ Radda in Chiantifinish · km 124.0 15.1 374688 12 % 10.8 %

The course in detail

Flat-equivalent distance

146.1 km for 122.0 km on the map

Terrain

Climbing 44 %Flat 8 %Descending 48 %

Distance in each grade band
GradeDistanceShare
≤ −20 %1.8 km1.4 %
−20 / −15 %5.0 km4.1 %
−15 / −10 %11.9 km9.8 %
−10 / −6 %16.2 km13.3 %
−6 / −3 %13.7 km11.3 %
−3 / −1 %9.5 km7.8 %
−1 / +1 %9.8 km8.0 %
+1 / +3 %7.8 km6.4 %
+3 / +6 %12.8 km10.5 %
+6 / +10 %13.0 km10.6 %
+10 / +15 %12.8 km10.5 %
+15 / +20 %5.6 km4.6 %
> +20 %2.2 km1.8 %

D+ per 10 km

0–10 km338 m
10–20 km332 m
20–30 km417 m
30–40 km547 m
40–50 km610 m
50–60 km443 m
60–70 km567 m
70–80 km206 m
80–90 km552 m
90–100 km466 m
100–110 km592 m
110–120 km242 m
120–122.0 km126 m

Biggest climbs

From (km)Length (km)D+ (m)AverageSteepest 100 m
45.51.7201+12.0 %+19.9 %
38.81.2176+14.8 %+37.5 %
54.41.6168+10.3 %+18.2 %
29.52.2166+7.6 %+18.0 %
20.52.1159+7.7 %+21.6 %

Biggest descents

From (km)Length (km)D− (m)AverageSteepest 100 m
44.01.5208−13.9 %−24.4 %
109.82.0196−9.8 %−19.1 %
95.21.8194−10.9 %−24.3 %
112.91.6186−11.3 %−18.9 %
59.12.1165−8.0 %−15.0 %

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 %
Chianti Ultra Trail 73.93,02941 m86.3 km31 %
E101 - Ultra Trail 100.76,39163 m146.6 km56 %
CCC 101.46,01559 m143.2 km49 %
Ultra Trail Chianti Castles 124.04,81039 m146.1 km32 %

Plan your Ultra Trail Chianti Castles

Your target time, shared out by effort between Arillo Terrabianca, Poggio San Polo, Castello di Brolio and seven more aid stations, with your clock at each one against the 26:30 time limit at the finish in Radda in Chianti, the fueling plan and a pace card.

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

Adds the Ultra Trail Chianti Castles 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 Ultra Trail Chianti Castles?

124.0 km, ↑ 4,810 m and ↓ 4,809 m, a loop from Radda in Chianti (the organiser's 2027 figures); their GPX measures 122.0 km and ↑ 5,006 m.

How much of the Ultra Trail Chianti Castles is flat?

Almost none: 8 % of the Ultra Trail Chianti Castles is flat, about 10 km; 44 % climbs and 48 % descends.

What is the Ultra Trail Chianti Castles time limit?

26:30 from the 04:00 start, so the finish in Radda in Chianti closes at 06:30, day 2; the organiser's page lists another edition's cut-offs only, so none is given before the finish.

What is the biggest climb on the Ultra Trail Chianti Castles?

↑ 201 m in 1.7 km after Castello di Brolio, steep: 12 % on average, 20 % over its steepest 100 m.