Giro d’Italia "Experience" Week 1 - Cinque Terre, Tuscany & Napoli

We will meet you at a Torino Airport and transfer you to your hotel on the Ligurian coast. Our team will help you to check in and unpack your bike or set up your rental bike. After a light lunch or snack, we’ll test ride the bikes on the hilly roads nearby and return. Back at our hotel, we can adjust the bikes, and then wander the delightful streets of one of the towns in Cinque Terre before dinner and the tour briefing.

In May, the days lengthen, the weather warms up, vegetation is verdant and newly green, and cyclists everywhere pray for sunshine. After breakfast, you will ride from the hotel along the Cinque Terra corniche with its spectaular coastal views and finish in Riomaggiore for lunch. A transfer to the fabulous walled town of Lucca follows, where if there is time, you can explore the hills where the pros train and ride some of the race route before it is closed. The team will find an optimal spot for you to watch the pros stream into Lucca. After the excitement, you will be transferred to your hotel. In addition, we highly recommend a walk on the wall surrounding Lucca PLUS a stop at Gelato Bontanella - THE best gelato according to our CEO, Uri Martins.

After breakfast, the team will transfer you to fabulous San Gimignano, a walled hill town with several mediaeval towers, also known as the town of Fine Towers. The skyline can be seen from miles away. Then onto the fabulous city of Siena via the picturesque hilltop walled village of Monteriggioni and along the Strade Bianche. Our destination is Castello di Brolio - dominating the Chanti countryside, perfect place to stop for wine tasting and visit their private collection of vintage bikes, finishing with a light meal at L’Eroica Cafe. You can choose to ride to Rapolano Terme stopping en route to watch the leaders and peloton ride by or transfer to the finish to watch the pros arrive there. A transfer will take you to your next hotel.

No time to rest. First up breakfast and then a fast transfer to Foligno the start of the first Individual Time Trial. Your chance to Ride Every Kilometre (REK) of Stage 7. Only 37.2 km BUT the aim is to ride as fast as possible to compare your times with the pros who ride later that day. It will entail obstacles and weaving around other enthusiasts but definitely a challenge and fun. Back at the hotel, you can change into comfortable clothes before returning to the start and entrance into the Giro VIP Start area. Wander the area and observe the pros preparing for their race, perhaps chat to some of the team support crew; and then watch the roll call and start of each rider. Screens will be viewable to watch the ITT unfold with the leaders of the Giro starting last. After the winner is announced, the team will transfer you to your hotel.

The second mountain stage of the Giro. Are you ready? There are three options - for those who want a challenge the team will drop you at Posta where you will follow the race route; for those who want a less challenging mountain climb, we suggest starting from Marana; and a final option, descending from Pizzoli and then riding the final climb to the ski resort, Prati di Tivo. The final climb is about 14 km and has an average gradient of about 7 percent. Par for the course, stunning landscapes, rural villages and a finish at 1,452 m, that's over 1,000 metres of climbing. Watch the pros arrive at the finish and then ride down to the van to transfer to your hotel.

After breakfast there’s a transfer to Campolongo (not the famous alps Campolongo) for the longer route into fabulously chaotic Napoli and then to Baia Azzura on the sandy coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea for a shorter ride to the finish. Flat and fast, you have time to stop to enjoy pastries on the coast before riding through the Phlegraean Fields. This is an active volcanic area encompassing both land and sea is a regional park. On this experience tour, you could experience some tremors that occur here occasionally! Continue your ride crossing over the official Giro Finish land then mount the winners' podium for a final taste of the Giro d'Italia experience. The team will then whisk you off to your hotel to relax before the last dinner together.

Sadly, today is the final day for your Giro d’Italia Week 1 Experience and we hope that you will feel invigorated and inspired for this summer. We will help with checking out and transferring you to Naples Airport for your return home or onward journey elsewhere.

Stay safe on the roads and hopefully see you soon.

If you can not join us for this week, you may want to have a look at our other Giro d'Italia Experiences and Escapes, you can find them here.