Giro d'Italia "Ride Every Kilometre" WEEK 1 2024 - Torino to Napoli

Benvenuto in Torino! We will meet you at Torino airport and transfer to your hotel.

Our team will help you to check in and unpack your bike or fit you to your rental bike. After a light lunch or snack we’ll test ride the bikes and ride out to Superga 672 m, a fixture of the Milano -Torino on the UCI Spring calendar.

Back at our hotel we can adjust the bikes, and then head over to our first "GTP Ride Every Kilometre" tour briefing over aperos before our first Italian dinner together.

The day starts with an early transfer to Venaria Reale to start the ride from the Stage 1 start along the official route. The route will take you back to Torino and into the hills and climbs overlooking Torino before you return and cross the official finish line in Torino and mount the podium to recognise your achievement. A memorable experience. Depending upon time, you can stay and watch the pros arrive over the finish or transfer to the hotel to prepare for Stage 2. An early dinner either at the hotel or nearby.

Not a usual feature this early in the Giro, but the route heads into the mountains. After breakfast the team will transfer you to the start of Stage 2. The start is flat at the start but soon enough the climbing will begin. Panoramica Zegna first and then a sharp descent and back up to Santuario di Orapa and the finish. If the weather is kind and there is time, join the crowds and cheer on the pros as they arrive for the first mountain stage finish. Depending upon time and enthusiasm, you can ride down to Netro avoiding the busy road full of fans, team buses and officials. From here, the team will transfer you to your hotel and meet at dinner.

A flat ride today but also a fast ride in order to stay ahead of the Giro Caravan and the breakaways and peloton. After a very early breakfast, you will ride from the Stage 3 start in Novara and ride the route to Asti, an ancient town and centre for the world famous Piemonte wines. No time to stop and taste these nectars, you need to race along the Tanaro river valley to Alba and then via Giro routes into Fossano. The GTP team will be there with a change of clothes for you and then you can enter the Giro VIP Finish Zone to celebrate and enjoy an apero or two and the delicious Italian dishes; rub shoulders with other VIPs, and then in a prime position watch the sprinters fight for the finish followed by the rest of their teams. When everyone is ready, the GTP van will then transfer you to your hotel near Aqua Terme.

Early breakfast and then depart east along the maritime hills. The route will be adorned with pink objects and ingenious displays in preparation for the race. In no time you have Colle San Bernardo 963 m, only 6.5 km ascent but steep enough with 12.4 % in one short section! Then a long 28 km or so descent to the coast and then Andora.

No mountains today, hills yes but with Ligurian Sea views as you pass along the coast, past Portofino and above the Cinque Terre. Near La Spezia you will head into beautiful Tuscany and hills behind Lucca via Freddana before descending and finishing in the fabulous walled city of Lucca. The Grand Tours Project CEO and former pro, Uri Martins, used to train here and he recommends walking along the wall and stopping at Gelato Bontanella for the best gelato.

After an early breakfast, there is a short transfer to the start at Torre del Lago Puccini. A hilly day with the accumulated elevation reaching around 1,900 metres. Details are scarce but the team at Grand Tours Project expect the route to pass by San Gimignano and Siena with some of the route on the Strade Bianche before reaching Rapolano Terme. Keep the phones charged for all the photo opps on this ride. Plus if there is time, visit the Rapolano thermal baths to soak the sore muscles before a transfer to your hotel near Foligno.

Straight after breakfast, ride the official 37.2 kilometre ITT route to Perugia. Bike computers and Strava recording as you will be able to compare your times against the pros at the end of the day. In no time, it is over. Ride or transfer back to the hotel to change and relax. Re-energise for tomorrow’s big mountain day. Around midday, the team will escort you to the VIP Start area where you can observe the riders preparing and warming up and the support crews tinkering with bikes. You could be lucky and find yourself with one of the riders chatting or discussing the race with some of the crew. Enjoy the atmosphere when riders are called up and start their race, watching their progress on the screens. The excitement will rise as the last riders, the fastest riders start.

An early dinner at the hotel.

Early rise and breakfast because today is your Queen Stage, i.e. the biggest climb of Giro Week 1. The route winds through the valleys and over hills, ridges and passes of the Apennines. The Apennines are stunningly beautiful and wild and the race route ends in Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga - home of the endangered calm Marsican Brown Bear and Apeninne Wolf. The final climb is 14 km with 1,022 metres elevation gain finishing at Prati di Tivo, a ski resort ( 1,454m). Welcome hairpins break the monotony. After a long day on the saddle we suggest you ride back down to the van. Once everyone has regrouped, you will be transferred to your hotel near Avezzano.

The end is nigh, today is your last stage. From the start at Avezzano you will come down from the Apennines, returning to the coast, specifically the Tyrrhenian Sea and the long stretches of sandy beaches. If you have it in you, the ride is potentially flat and fast along the coast before following the route through the active volcanic Phlegraean Fields to Bacoli and then the shore line past Pozzuoli and Posillipo, into Napoli and the finish of Stage 9 and week 1 .

The first week, with the Grande Partenza, is complete. Nine stages, 1,412 kilometres and 15,350 metres ascent plus the extra bits! Did you accomplish this epic challenge? If yes, kudos to you. If not, that’s ok as the Giro is the “Toughest race in the most beautiful place”- come back next year and try again.
We’ll help you check out and transfer you to Napoli airport for your onward travels.
Ride safe and see you on the roads soon.