Ride a Gran Fondo in Italy This Year
We’ve all heard the term “Gran Fondo”...but what does it really mean? A true Italian Gran Fondo is a mass-start, timed cycling event, run over closed roads, with full support and post-ride podium presentations. In short…it’s the closest most of us will ever come to knowing what it feels like to be a full-on Italian bike racer.
...and it could be the most fun you’ve ever had on a bike!
But don’t be intimidated. You can ride a Gran Fondo at any pace you choose, and no matter what your speed or competitive nature, a big Italian event like this is guaranteed to be an experience unlike anything you’ve ever done before.
Cycling in Italy can present all kinds of challenges: Where do I go? How do I get there? Will I have a bike to ride? Can I find a good hotel? I can’t read a menu that’s not written in English…HELP!
Don’t worry. We’ve taken care of every detail. All you need to do is show up and ride. We’ve scouted the locations, booked the hotels, sampled the restaurants and coffee bars and ridden the roads. We can even have a great bike waiting for you, dialed-in to your specific fit, when you arrive on-site. It doesn’t get any easier than this.
Our goal is to give you the complete Italian experience. We’ll stay in the same hotel all week, giving you a chance to explore the town, see the sights and meet the people. By the end of your time in Italy, you’ll find it hard to say goodbye.
We’ve organized four trips this year, to four distinctly different regions of Italy. Each trip is unique…each trip is molto Italiano:
Camerino/Giro, May 9-16 – We’ll take guests to the city of Camerino, a centuries-old hill town in the Marche region northeast of Rome, near the Appennine Mountains. They’ll ride the Gran Fondo Terre dei Varano, get up-close with a stage start of the Giro d’Italia, and experience a classical concert in Camerino’s 400-year-old Teatro Filippo Marchetti.
Como/Giro, May 23-30 – This trip is tailor-made for people who want to ride in Italy, but don’t feel the need to compete in a Gran Fondo. We’ll spend the week in the beautiful city of Como, riding along Lake Como and up into the hills that cover the countryside. We’ll ride to the Madonna del Ghisallo and also spend a day in Milan, watching the final arrival of the racers in the Giro d’Italia, and soaking-up the ambience of this fashionable Italian city.
Cinque Terre, September 5-12 – We’re returning to the marvelous Mediterranean coast for a week of riding, exploring and sampling the great food and drink of the Liguria region. The centerpiece of this trip is the Gran Fondo Cinque Terre, a ride unlike anything you’ve ever done before. We were here in 2011, and vowed to come back again…and again.
Prosecco, October 3-10 – In Italy, sparkling wine isn’t Champagne…the Italians call it Prosecco. And the Prosecco region, north of Venice, is one of the world’s great grape growing areas. The routes for the Prosecco Cycling Classic roll over country roads, past vineyard after vineyard, starting and finishing in the picture-perfect town of Valdobbiadene. That’ll be our home for a full week, with side trips scheduled to Venice and the Pinarello headquarters in Treviso.
For a taste of what it’s like to ride with Italy Gran Fondo, check out this video produced before, during and after the Gran Fondo Cinque Terre, by Canadian cyclist Mikhail Clarkson:
