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Milan – Cinque Terre via Sestriere
TRIP DETAILS:
Duration: 7 days, 6 nights
Dates: Sunday, 17th May – Saturday, 23rd May.
Start: Milan, Malpensa Finish: Milan, Malpensa
Accommodation: Selected quality 4 Star Hotels
Group Size: Maximum 40 people (5 Staff)
Cost: AUD$3,690
Deposit: USD* $915* – Reserve your place now.
*We charge for our trips in Australian dollars (AUD$).

Optional Extras:
Bike Rental $300 (Cannondale Synapse carbon fibre)
-Pre or post tour accommodation to extend your stay
-Travel Insurance (with a 10% Discount for Australian Clients)
-Car Rental Email us for details

Who is this trip for?
This tour offers an amazing variety of terrain, race viewing and cycling. As with all of our tours you�ll be guided by our expert team of ride leaders, drivers and guides. You will experience the excitement of the Giro d�Italia centenary edition and see stage starts and finishes the individual time trial and of course get to see all of the action up close. This tour starts in Milan before moving to the Alpes to ride some of the famous passes of the Italian Alpes and see the exciting stage to Sestriere, where Lance Armstrong gained an unbeatable lead with a stunning stage win in the 1999 Tour de France. From the Alps we travel to the Italian Riviera for a complete change of scenery and terrain and the elegant seaside resort of Sestri Levante.

Highlights of this tour include:

• Challenge yourself on famous climbs including Sestriere and Col d�Izoard in France.
• Discover Italy�s beautiful Cinque Terre coast and the scenic valleys and mountains of the Italian and French Alps.
• Ride on race day over the difficult 61km time trial course from Sestri Levante following the spectacular coastline of the Italian Riviera
• Stay in a historic restored 4 star villa hotel in Sestri Levante.
• Witness the race the Giro d�Italia centenary edition stages including the important stage from Cuneo to Pinerolo and the individual time trial course between Sestri Levante and Riomaggiore.

The trip is geared to suit anyone with an interest in cycling and experiencing the food, people and culture of Italy. We cater for cyclists of all abilities by providing riding options each day. On most days we offer two rides. All of our rides are escorted and they vary from �serious� to �relaxed�. We ride on quiet scenic roads and where possible we ride on the race course ahead of the race. This trip does involve some days in the mountains so there will be the opportunity to challenge yourself. As with all of our tours you�ll be guided by our expert team of ride leaders, drivers and guides, including ex pro riders who know the Giro d�Italia intimately. This tour also caters to people who do not ride bikes, but an interest in the Giro d�Italia is important as this is the main focus of the tour. We�ll do our best to make our non riding clients enjoy their experience of Italy and where possible will include visits to other attractions as well as visiting the race in our support vans.

For your convenience and comfort we start and finish our Giro d�Italia tours with a pickup and drop off at major airports. This means that you don�t have to bother with expensive and time consuming transfers to smaller airports such as Florence or Venice to start your tour.

Stages you will see:

• Sunday 17 May: Stage 8, Milano
• Tuesday 19 May: Stage 9, Cuneo � Sestriere
• Wednesday 20 May: Stage 10, Torino � Arenzano
• Thursday 21 May: Stage 11, Sestri Levante � Riomaggiore ITT
• Friday 22 May: Stage 12, Lido Camaiore � Firenze
• Saturday 23 May: Stage 13 Campi Bisenzio � Bologna San Luca

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Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 Sunday, 17 May 2009
Our tour starts today with our staff meeting you as you arrive at Milan Malpensa airport and transferring you to our hotel a short distance away. Our hotel is a modern 4 star property in a quiet location ideal for our test ride this afternoon and has great facilities including a heated outdoor pool. Once you are checked in we�ll assist you with getting your bike set up before heading off this afternoon into the surrounding countryside of which straddles the regions of Lombardy and Piemonte. It�s fairly flat around this region with the lakes to the north and a gentle rural landscape to the south, so it will be an easy ride with a perhaps a stop for a cup of wonderful Italian coffee. For those interested who arrive in Milan early enough who wish to see the race we�ll arrange for a visit to Milan city centre this afternoon to view the race as it makes its 10 circuits of the city in today�s 155 km stage. Tonight we will have a welcome dinner where you will meet your fellow travellers and where our staff will go over the plans for you next week of cycling in Italy.

Overnight: Milan
Meals: Dinner

Day 2 Monday, 18 May 2009
After a good night�s rest we will travel from Milan to Piemonte and the Alps, where we stay in the small town of Bardonecchia close to the French border and the entrance to the Frejus tunnel that connects France and Italy. Today is a rest day for the Giro d�Italia so we are free to choose a ride without the pressure of the race. We will make a lunch stop in the small medieval town of Pinerelo and then head off on a 90 km ride via the ski resort of Sestriere, famous in recent cycling history as the scene of Lance Armstrong�s first mountain win in the 1999 Tour de France, giving him an unbeatable 6 minute lead and cementing his place in tour history.� Our hotel is a family run 4 star hotel with spacious park like grounds and a fine restaurant where we enjoy our dinner for the next two nights.

Today�s riding:
From Pinerelo we climb a total of 1650 meters to the summit at Sestriere, but it�s a gentle and scenic climb with an average of 3% with just a few steeper sections thrown in for interest. It�s a downhill run back to our hotel in Bardonecchia, with the option of travelling back in the coach to reduce the ride distance down to 55 kms today.

Overnight: Bardonecchia
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 3 Tuesday, 19 May 2009
It�s a big day for the Giro d�Italia riders today as the last day in the Alps before the race heads south to the flatter Ligurian coast. The stage starts in Cuneo and moves into France going over no less than five Cols before the fast downhill run to Pinerolo, where we began yesterday�s ride. Just as well that the riders had a rest day yesterday as this is not only mountainous, but is the longest stage of the Giro at 250 km. We will see the race today on the �Cima Coppi� for this year�s Giro, the legendary 2360 meter high Col d�Izoard. The Cima Coppi is named after the famous Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi and is awarded to the highest climb in each year�s Giro d�Italia.

Today�s riding:
From our hotel in Bardonecchia we will ride across the border to France and the town of Briancon, where the climb to the summit of Col d�Izoard commences. The race will be coming from the opposite direction so once we reach the summit we will travel a short way down to the steeper slopes and await the arrival of the race. Once the race has passed it�s a downhill run back to Briancon to watch the final moments on television and see who has the honour of finishing the day with the maglia rosa.

For our second and �easier� option we will ride across the border to France to Briancon and watch the race as it passes through town or on the lower slopes of the Montgenevre (1854m) returning to Briancon after the race passes by.

Thirdly you can leave the hotel on the bus and travel to Briancon from where you can climb up the Col d�Izoard for the race returning to Briancon after the race passes by.

Overnight: Bardonecchia
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 4 Wednesday, 20 May 2009
We�ll leave Bardonecchia this morning and travel east to Asti, an attractive town in the heart of Piemonte known mainly once again for the production of wine, this time the Italian sparkling wine of Spumante. Our aim will be to meet up with the race before the midway point as it passes through the feed station on today�s 206 km stage from Tireno to Arenzano. Feed stations are a great place to get a good view of all of the riders as they slow down to collect their musettes. They are also a good place to chat to some of the crew from the teams, learn a bit about the workings of a professional team in a Grand Tour and if you are quick score a souvenir water bottle or musette discarded by one of the riders. After we�ve seen the riders come by we�ll ride to our rendezvous point with the coach and travel south to Sestri Levante, our home for the next three nights. Sestri Levante is a picturesque resort town that dot the Ligurian coast, best known for the five towns of the Cinque Terre linked together by a popular walking trail along the rugged clifftops. Sestri Levante originally expanded from a quiet fishing village to a summer retreat when wealthy merchants from nearby Genoa built their grand villas in the town. Sestri Levante is now popular with Italians and foreigners as a relaxing holiday destination. Our hotel is Grand Hotel Villa Balbi, a large 17th century villa located in spacious grounds a short distance from the beach.

Today�s riding:
We will join the race route on the outkirts of Torino and ride the 100km to meet the bus at the feed zone and see the race pass.
For our shorter option we will start near Asti and ride the race route for the 60km to meet the bus at the feed zone and see the race pass.

Overnight: Sestri Levante
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 5 Thursday, 21 May 2009
Today�s individual time trial is from Sestri Levante to the historic coastal village of Riomaggiore, the first of the five villages that make up the Cinque Terre. The course is winding, hilly and will make a tough course for the competitors, but make fantastic television as the road winds its way along the coast and up over two small passes, the Passo del Bracco and Passo del Termine. It is a course ideally suited to strong time trialists like Armstrong, Contador, Evans and of course Levi Lepheimer, who excelled in the mountainous time trial of the 2008 Vuelta d�Espagna.

Today�s riding:
Providing the route is open to the public this morning we�ll be up early to ride the time trial route ahead of the race, hopefully all the way to the finish in Riomaggiore, where it�s a short ride to La Spezia to meet the coach. From La Spezia it�s a short drive back to Sestri Levante in time to see the riders set up and depart from Sestri Levante during the afternoon, with of course the top placed riders departing last. For those that wish to stay on in Riomaggiore and view the riders as they approach the finish, transfers will be provided late in the day to return you to the hotel in Sestri Levante.

Overnight: Sestri Levante
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 6 Friday, 22 May 2009
Today the Giro stage is from the coastal town of Lido Cammaiore to Florence. Thankfully for the Giro riders the route avoids the mountainous Appenino mountains to the east and skirts around them over a 150km route with only a couple of small bumps to momentarily slow them down. After the race passes we�ll have time to allow you to explore Lucca�s fine piazzas and small streets, plus maybe a visit to the excellent local bike shop adjacent to the city walls to pick up a souvenir of your day in Lucca. Late this afternoon we�ll head back to Sestri Levante where we will enjoy a final dinner at our hotel to celebrate what has been an unforgettable week of Italian cycling.

Today�s riding:
We will drive south from Sestri Levante to Marina di Massa, where we will start our 60 km ride along the race route. It�s a scenic route up from the coast with the only climb of the day, the 224 meter Monte Pitoro to force us into our lower gears. Our destination is the historic walled city of Lucca where we will see the race pass by early this afternoon.

Overnight: Sestri Levante
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 7, Saturday 23 May 2009
This morning our tour sadly comes to an end as we transfer you back to Milan Malpensa airport,
arriving at the airport late in the morning for your onward flights.

Meals: Breakfast

Tour cost: A$3690 per person twin share and includes:

• Transport throughout by private luxury coach with custom bike trailer.
• Services of our experienced tour guides including an ex European pro cyclist.
• Transfer on arrival day from Milan Malpensa airport to hotel
• Transfer on final day from Bergamo to Milan Malpensa airport
• 6 nights accommodation in quality 4 star hotels with private facilities.
• Buffet breakfast and 3 course evening meal each day
• Mechanical assistance with your bike
• Sightseeing as listed
• Maps and Bikestyle guide to the Giro d�Italia
• Bikestyle cycling jersey