Giro d'Italia "Ride Every Kilometre" Week 1 - Abruzzo to Emilia-Romagna

We will meet you at either Abruzzo or Roma Fiumicino airports and transfer to your hotel.

Our team will help you to check in and unpack your bike. After a light lunch or snack we’ll test ride the bikes and head into the countryside and along the coast. Back at our hotel we can adjust the bikes, and then head over to the Giro d’Italia Opening Presentation of riders and teams. After the presentation we will enjoy an apero or two during the tour briefing and before our first Italian dinner together.

Everything is relative of course, but today we ‘only’ need to ride 18.4 kilometres of the Individual Time Trial. After breakfast we’ll ride to Fossacesia Marina and start from the departure ramp riding on the cycle path along the coast. This is a chance to ride your most explosive and attempt to emulate the pros (with their aerodynamic helmets and race kit). Don’t forget to Strava the ride.

There is an option to continue riding or to return to the hotel to change before heading back to Ortona to celebrate with the passionate and cheering Italian crowds and watch the pros arrive at the finish in Ortona. Back at the hotel you can freshen up before we head to our restaurant on the coast.

You should be primed and excited for today's ride. An early breakfast and we’ll transfer you north to Teramo, one of Abruzzo’s most beautiful towns. Very quickly you are in hilly countryside, heading north towards Marche but turn east to the Adriatic coast before the regional border. Then it is a long flat coastal ride south with a couple of sprinting climbs to break the flat route. We ride past our hotel and about 50 kilometres later, arrive at the finish. 204 kilometres of fast riding to reach the finish at San Salvo ahead of the caravan and pros.

We’ll transfer back to the hotel for you to rest and relax and meet for dinner to discuss the next day’s logistics.

Bags should be packed for transfer to our next hotel. After an early breakfast and check out, we’ll transfer you to Vasto for our final ride along the flat Abruzzo coast, into Molise, the northern part of Puglia and finally into the hilly region of Basilicata. You will cross over the Monte Vulture Massif and past the two beautiful volcanic lakes and finally to the castle dominated town of Melfi.

This area is famous for one of Italy’s greatest red wines, the DOC Aglianico del Vulture and the Vulture olive oil.

Once checked into the hotel you can relax before dinner.

Today we have over 3,500 metres of ascent - nothing too arduous until the last climb, Colle Molella, with an average of 10% over 3 kilometres.

The route crosses the Apennines from Venosa and winds through the mountains passing into Parco Regionale Monte Picentini and the beautiful ski resort, Lago Laceno.

Back in the GTP van, we’ll whisk you off to your next hotel for rest and relaxation.

A ride through a beautiful and wild region, called Irpinia, a name derived from an extinct language meaning wolf, and the area's symbol. The first climb, Passo Serra is the first real steep ascent of the Giro, and thereafter it is hilly until the route reaches Eboli and there will be a fast descent to the Tyrrhenian Sea and along the coast to Salerno.

If there is time, we can watch the sprinters race over the finish line before we transfer you to your next hotel near Naples

What a day! References to ancient and modern history, dramatic geology and landscapes, industrial chaos and drop dead vistas overlooking the sea and mountains, cliff side luxury hotels and mansions, beautiful beaches and regimented lidos …and best of all, the traffic chaos will be minimal compared to a non Giro racing day!

So you have glory of Naples, the threatening Vesuvius, the ruins of Pompeii and then into the stunning hills and the perched road overlooking the Amalfi coast and Tyrrhenian Sea, past Amalfi and the glamorous Positano; then back over to Sorrento and along the Gulf of Naples coast, past Torre del Greco and into Naples.

We can watch the pros sprint in before heading back to our hotel.

We hope you slept well last night - today is an epic day. Two big climbs with a long 45 kilometre ascent to the finish on Gran Sasso d’Italia at 2,135 metres. The ride leaves Campania, goes through Molise and returns to Abruzzo, the Grande Partenza region, skirting beautiful and wild national parks, home to Marsican bears and wolves.

We think a cycle descent is on the cards in order to avoid the congestion and to make a 2 hour transfer to our next hotel near Terni.

Your last long day in the saddle this week but the total ascent is more relaxed. We head back towards the Adriatic coast, from Umbria to Fossombrone in Marche. The route is relatively steady until the 150 kilometre mark when the hilly terrain reappears.

The GTP van will be nearby to collect you and drive you to your next hotel.

Not an early start like the other days. We will transfer to the start after breakfast and you can ride the 33-kilometre ITT at your leisure or race to get your best time. The Giro designers have called it pan flat - it's an apt description! At the end of the ride, we will cross the finish line, jump on the podium for some photos. The GTP van will be waiting for you with a change of clothes. We’ll have lunch and then watch the pros come in within the VIP zone.

Keeping it flexible, we will take you to your hotel in Bologna for your final night. Dinner will be at a festive Italian restaurant.

The first week, with the Grande Partenza, is complete. Nine stages, 1,392 kilometres and 18,050 metres of ascent plus the extra bits! Did you accomplish this tough challenge? If yes, kudos to you and 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 Bologna airport for your onward travels. *A private transfer to Florence airport can be arranged.

Ride safe and see you on the roads soon.