Giro d’Italia Cycling Tour

We start this week with a light spin to Argegno as our first ride and it’s the perfect introduction to Italy and the Italian lakes. You make your way out of the quintessential Lombardian town of Como and along the small road that hugs the iconic lake, with its spectacular surrounding mountains.

With undulating terrain the whole way, this ride should blow the cobwebs out of your legs after your travels and also give you the chance to test your bike set-up and make any micro adjustments to the bike as you need.

Highlight: Riding along the edge of the lake.
Distance: 40km
Elevation: 600m

It’s time for you to enjoy a full taste of the Lombardian country side. As we roll out of town and through the little villages and into the forest, we head towards the tip of the peninsula and the town of Bellagio, where we’ll stop for a caffe and take in the postcard perfect view. We’ll then take on the main challenge of the day, the 10.6k climb with 5.2% average up to the church of Madonna di Ghisallo, the patroness of cyclists, where we’ll stop for lunch and visit the church, the Museo del Ciclismo.

We’ll then take the mostly downhill backroads back into Como, and our hotel.

Highlight: The museum and monument to fallen cyclists.
Distance: 92km
Elevation: 1680m

Today you’ll conquer another one of cycling’s legendary climbs, the Muro di Sormano. We’ll start with an undulating warm up along the edge of the lake, before a right hand turn starts the hairpins, climbing and utterly sunning vistas.

We keep climbing through the bosco (forest) until we reach the summit. We’ll regroup here for a coffee and panino, before finding a spot in the sun to watch the race come flying over the top. After the final rider has passed, we’ll have a fast and fun descent for the return journey, heading directly to Como to see the Stage finish.

Highlight: Seeing the race fly up the iconic Muro di Surmano
Distance: 65km
Elevation: 1550m

It’s time for you to take on the iconic Passo dello Stelvio, sitting at an imposing 2750m. This is a climb like no other with its 34 switchbacks, and at one point a 14% pinch, and will challenge the mind and the legs, and open the heart. Once you have conquered the challenge, get set to enjoy a long and technical descent.

Highlight: On a day that is our Stelvio Pass cycling tour, the open Valle de Braulio surrounded by two peaks after the hike up the preceding wall.
Distance: 46km
Elevation: 1590m

Today you’ll conquer another one of cycling’s legendary climbs, starting by heading towards Santa Caterina, which rises 600 m before we even reach the base of the climb. You’ll have a few switchbacks to take care of early, before you ride along the edge of the mountain that sharply drops away, before dramatically rising on the other side of a ravine. This is a truly spectacular landscape and possibly our favourite.

Continuing on to the summit, the valley widens and flattens before the Rifugio Bonetta, where we’ll stop for a well earned panino and secure our spot to watch the race come up and over. A fast and fun descent awaits for the return journey down to Bormio.

Ride Option: If you’re keen for an earlier start and an epic day on the bike, you’ll also take on Mortirolo. On reaching the summit of Gavia, you’ll ride back towards Tirano and then up Mortirolo, with its mercilessly steep gradients that hit 18% and average 10.4% for the duration, before descending to Ponte de Legno and then up the other side of Gavia, to reach the summit and await the race.

The decision is yours.

Highlight: A truly special climb, with the bonus of the grand parade racing over the top. The descent back to Bormio is also awesome.
Distance: 60km – 107km (longer ride option)
Elevation: 1800m – 3060m (longer ride option)

We say goodbye to Bormio this morning and start to make our way east towards the Dolomites. After an early start to get ahead of the race, we’ll have lunch and then unload the bikes and prepare for our ride, while we wait for the race to thunder past our sunny spot by the river on the valley floor.

After the race has passed, we’ll roll out of town and tackle one of the most beautiful (and less known) climbs in the Dolomites, the Passo delle Erbe.

It is without a doubt a hidden gem, but also a serious challenge at 24.8km long and with an average gradient of 5.9%. After rolling to a stop at the summit, we’ll take in the sensational view, regroup and then descend down the mountain before hitting the valley floor and the false flat for the last few k’s to our new home.

Highlight: The small road and surrounding landscape that takes you to the summit of Passo delle Erbe
Distance: 58km
Elevation: 2200m

This morning we’ll drive across to the start town of Valdaora and see the riders sign on, having the opportunity to purchase our Giro souvenirs and watch the show get on the road.

We’ll roll out of town following the peloton, on roads flanked by tall pine trees, before taking the smaller road towards Tre Cime di Lavaredo, where another spectacular landscape awaits. Weather permitting, we will ride to the summit or we’ll continue past Misurina and enjoy the fast and fun descent that will take us right down to Cortina d’Ampezzo, where we will regroup before we take on the 16k and 1000m of Passo di Falzarego, one of our favourite places to ride in the Dolomites.

Reaching Passo di Falzarego, we veer to our right and keep heading up to Passo Valparola, where a view of the surrounding peaks and valley floor is unveiled, before a seriously fun 15k descent to our villa.

Highlight: The last few k’s of the climb to Passo Falzarego
Distance: 82km
Elevation: 2030m

This is a superb day of climbing and descending the beautiful and iconic Sella Ronda, with spectacular landscapes everywhere you turn. Today we are either going up or going down with four distinct passes, starting with a short and slight descent to the south, before our first challenge of Passo di Gardena, followed by Passo di Sella, Passo Pordoi and finishing with the beautiful, free flowing descent of Passo di Campolongo.

Highlight: The free flowing descent of Passo di Campolongo.
Distance: 62km
Elevation: 1800m