Alpe d'Huez to Stelvio / Powered by Bianchi

We welcome you to Geneva, where we’ll collect you from the airport, and then drive to beautiful Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the heart of the French Alps. You will meet your Super Road bike that you will have the pleasure of riding for the week, and collect your stylish Cycling kit. September 15 anniversary of his birth, so we’ll celebrate his birthday by enjoying our first epic ride to test out the bikes and make any adjustments, before our first dinner of the tour with a toast to Fausto Coppi who raced through this town en route to Aosta, Italy, in a famous stage victory in the 1949 Tour de France.

At 2,764 m, Col de l’Iseran is the highest paved pass in Europe. It featured prominently in the 1949 Tour de France with a 257 km epic stage to Aosta. Coppi won the stage, taking the yellow jersey from his arch rival Bartali, and wearing it for the first time in his cycling career … and he then kept it all the way to Paris. This was the stage that won him the Tour de France & Giro double in the one year, for the first time in cycling history. Truly a history-making mountain pass!

This is one of the greatest cycling routes in Europe – a climb up the two legends of Tour de France: Col du Galibier (5^th highest paved pass in Europe) and iconic Alpe d’Huez. Coppi made history on both mountains in the 1952 Tour. Alpe d’Huez featured for the 1st time ever in the 1952 Tour - Coppi won the stage to take the yellow jersey for the first time in the race. The next stage was made immortal by the photo of Coppi in the yellow jersey handing a water bottle to Bartali as they climbed Galibier (or was it the other way around?).

The mountain pass of Col d’Izoard featured in the 1949 Giro in a classic stage won by Coppi. He escaped early from the peloton and soloed 192km and 5 passes including Izoard and Sestriere, finishing in Pinerolo 12 minutes ahead of Bartali. “A lonely man in command, his shirt is blue and white, his name is Fausto Coppi" recited the voice of sports commentator Mario Ferretti on this stage. Izoard was used by the 1949 Tour de France just a few weeks later and again in 1951 (both stages won by Coppi). Once on top, we’ll visit the small museum and the Coppi memorial, then descend to Briançon, cross the border into Italy and then complete our 3rd ascent for the day, Sestriere. At dinner, you will have a special degustation in the Michelin Star restaurant of Locanda La Raia.

We’ll start with a relaxing ride in the surrounding countryside to enjoy Coppi’s favourite training routes in his youth. It’s a short ride from our hotel to the small town of his birth, where his house still stands, renovated as the Coppi museum dedicated to his life. We then drive to Milan passing by Treviglio, where we’ll enjoy a visit to the Bianchi factory. In Milan, (if the time allows) we will visit the "Velodromo Vigorelli" where Fausto broke the Hr Record on 7 November 1942. A transfer will take you to the next stop, where a superb dinner awaits at a very special and traditional trattoria in Como Old town. Milan was the Start & Finish of Coppi's first Giro win in 1940 (at age 20, still youngest ever).

Today we’ll be riding on some of the routes where Coppi won the Giro de Lombardia (one of the 5 "Monuments" of pro cycling) a record 5 times. From Como, we tackle the steep wall of Muro di Sormano, then down to the lake and into beautiful Bellagio. An optional easier ride is available, riding on the lake from Como to Bellagio and then joining one of the climbs. A climb up to the church of Madonna del Ghisallo (the patroness of cyclists) is a must. In the museum, the bike used by Coppi for his one-hour record is displayed, and this was a favourite climb of Coppi and Bartali. We return to Bellagio to take a short ferry ride across the lake and we have a flat ride to the northern end of Lake Como.

We’ll set out from Bormio to climb the legendary Stelvio, turning off at Umbrail pass to then make the beautiful descent into Switzerland. We circle back into Italy to make our second ascent of Stelvio on the classic side, which was the route of one of Coppi’s most famous victories – Stage 20 of the 1953 Giro. Coppi beat his Swiss rival Hugo Koblet over the Stelvio, sprinted to the finish to win the stage, taking the pink jersey from Koblet to win his record 5^th Giro. Our final ride and what better way to pay tribute to Coppi than by ascending epic Stelvio, the 2^nd highest paved pass in Europe … twice!

We drive to Milan Malpensa airport in the morning, to farewell you as you travel home with memories, stories, photos, new friends, and a collection of Cima Coppi personal victories to last a lifetime. A transfer back to Geneva, Switzerland can be arranged.