If he's aiming for the Morbegno, Sondrio route, then it looks like he could have gone along the SS340 to Mennaggio and then along the west shore of lake Como.
However I wonder if this route is unavailable due to prohibited tunnels along the Galleria Alborgassio?
I still don't understand why he would go along there--it looks like a big detour to me? He'll get to Como much more quickly along the route that he is taking.
Well, there's the Lago di Como in the way, as well as a couple of mountains. He's going south around that.