Giro d'Italia "Getaway" - Monte Zoncolan & Dolomites

You will arrive at Venice airport, and we'll transport you to our hotel in Castelfranco Veneto. Our mechanic will help you unpack and build your bike, we'll hand out the team kit, and make final preparations before tomorrow's ride.

After discussing the tour programme, we'll enjoy a hearty Italian dinner in town.

From our hotel in Castelfranco Veneto, we'll take a 33km flat route to the finish town of Nervesa della Battaglia, and from here we follow the race route for a 30km loop around the town. Given the two massive mountain days to follow, we'll be wise to rest our legs. The atmosphere in town will be electric as the crowds arrive after lunch to enjoy the Giro festivities and the early arrival of the peloton. Following the dead flat 150km ride to Nervesa, the peloton will be traveling at serious speed on this final loop around town, and it will be an exciting sprint to the finish line.

Epic day alert ... Monte Zoncolan is one of the legendary climbs of the Giro, indeed in all of Europe, and for good reason. It is notoriously steep, very long, and extremely challenging ... and regarded by many of the pros as the toughest in Europe. There is nothing quite like it except perhaps Alto de l'Angliru in Spain. With sustained gradients of over 15%, it will test us, and the pros, to our very limits. Today's stage will be one of the 3 toughest of the 2018 Giro ... but it's also truly stunning scenery along the whole course. Our aim is to cycle the final 65km of the stage, which includes two smaller climbs before our Zoncolan ascent. Once on top, we'll be sure to watch the pros as they fight for the pink jersey ... the crowds will be huge and the atmosphere will be electric.

Our final day of cycling, and another big day in the mountains. We have three mountains ahead of us, as we head into the Dolomites and start cycling from the famous, glamorous town of Cortina d'Ampezzo, and join the route for the final 73km. It is basically ascend and descend to the finish, and 2,000m of climbing, so hopefully yesterday's epic climb of Zoncolan has left some energy in our legs. Once we cross the finish line, we'll rejoice our achievements ... you simply can't get any closer to the real action than this. We'll watch the race finish once again, and cheer on the pros as they complete two exhausting days in the mountains. We will then transport you to Venice airport for your trip home ... arrivederci!