2012 Giro d’Italia 12 Day Trip
Over 12 days see the biggest stages of the race as it travels through the magnificent scenery of the Italian Dolomites and Alps. Includes the chance to ride and see the race on the incomparable Passo del Stelvio and Passo Giau and ride the Sella Ronda loop in the Dolomites! This is a trip with something for everyone with an enjoyable Lake Como ride to visit the Famous Madonna del Ghisallo and some time to relax and sightsee in the beautiful Val d’Aosta. 2012 promises to be the best Giro d’Italia for many years so don’t miss your chance to experience Italy’s grand tour.
TRIP DETAILS:
Duration: 12 days (11 nights)
Dates: Thursday 17 May to Monday 28 May
Start: Milan Malpensa Finish: Milan Malpensa
Accommodation: Selected quality 3 and 4 star hotels
Group Size: Maximum 30 people (4 Staff)
Cost: AUD$4990.00 – Single Supplement AUD$750.00
Deposit: AUD $1000.00
Note: All trip costs are per person, not including airfare and based on two persons per room.
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Inclusions
Optional Extras:
Bike Rental $660.00 (Cannondale Synapse carbon fibre)
Pre or post tour accommodation to extend your stay
Travel Insurance
Email us for details
Highlights:
- Experience all of the big mountain stages of the 2012 Giro d’Italia
- The chance to ride the most famous climbs in Italy:
- Passo del Stelvio
- Passo di Giau
- Mortirolo
- Sella Ronda
- Fabulous hotels in prime locations
- Lake Como ride with visit to Madonna del Ghisallo
- The beautiful cuisine and wine of Italy
- The final stage, an individual time trial in Milan
Who is this trip for?
This trip is geared to suit anyone with an interest in cycling who wants to see Italy’s own Grand Tour, the Giro d’Italia. Italy is a fabulous country to visit with unequalled scenery, friendly people and of course great food. For the race fan the Giro offers the chance of seeing the riders up close without the crowds that typify it’s bigger brother, The Tour de France. We cater for cyclists of all abilities by providing riding options each day, although the cycling in the mountains of the Dolomites and Alps is not for beginners.
Each day we’ll have options for rides to suit people who feel like a challenge, or an easy day enjoying the scenery. We ride on quiet scenic roads and where possible we ride on the race course ahead of the race. Non cyclists are welcome on our Giro d’Italia tours. As with all of our tours you’ll be guided by our expert team of ride leaders, drivers and guides.
Thursday 17 May 2012: Seravezza – Sestri Levante (157 km)
Your Italian adventure starts today when you arrive at Milan Malpensa Airport. Our staff will be there to greet you and assist you with the transfer to our 4 star hotel.
The first job will be to check in and either, test the set up on the bike you have hired or assemble your own. Our staff will be there to assist you if required. To help you shake off your jetlag we will organise a short and pleasant ride this afternoon of roughly 40kms through the local countryside following the Naviglio Grande canal, stopping for your first Italian coffee at a small cafe. So we can catch up with the race we’ll be back in the hotel in time to catch the finish of today’s 157km stage to Sestri Levante on TV, which with the rugged hills and scenery of the Ligurian coast will make great viewing.
Tonight there will be a welcome dinner where you can meet up with the staff that will be looking after you on the trip and also your fellow travellers.
Overnight: Malpensa
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Friday 18 May 2012: Savona – Cervere (121 km)
This morning we leave Milan and head to the Val d’Aosta. We spend the next two nights in this beautiful valley surrounded by alpine scenery, shaped by ancient glaciers and encircled by some of Europe’s highest mountains.
It’s a pleasant drive from Milan to the mountaineering town of Courmayer, at the foot of the Mont Blanc massif on the border with France. We’ll stop in Courmayer for a coffee then head off on the bikes to our hotel in Fénis, 55kms down the valley via the town of Aosa. It’s an easy run down the valley with incredible mountain scenery everywhere you look. For those wanting a longer ride there will be a 100 km option with a detour up to the 2118 meter Col du Petit Saint Bernard on the French border, a pass that has featured many times in the Tour de France. It’s a long climb of almost 27kms, but with an average gradient of only 4.5% it’s one of the easiest passes in the Alps to conquer and an ideal warm up for what is to come!
Tonight we will enjoy a delicious meal in our family run traditional hotel.
Overnight: Fenis, Val d’Aosta
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Saturday 19 May 2012: Cherasco – Cervinia (205 km)
The Giro d’Italia enters the Val d’Aosta today with a mountain top finish at the ski village of Cervinia, close to the Swiss boder. Surrounded by mountains including the famous Matterhorn it is hard to imagine a more spectacular place for a mountain top finish. The Giro d’Italia last finished in Cervinia in 1997 in a stage from won by two time Giro winner , Ivan Goti.
We can have an easy start as our hotel is only 35 kms from the finish line, giving us plenty of time to climb the 27kms from Chatillon to the finish. Over this distance you gain 1470 meters of altitude, but the climb flattens out a bit in the middle for a bit of relief and has an average gradient of 5%, meaning it’s within everyone’s reach. For those wanting an easier ride we’ll offer a pleasant ride up the valley to one of the villages, returning via the race route later in the afternoon to see the race head up the first part of the climb to Cervinia.
After the race it’s an easy run back to the hotel for a hearty dinner.
Overnight: Fenis, Val d’Aosta
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Sunday 20 May 2012: Busto Arsizio – Lecco/Piani dei Resinelli (172 km)
We leave the Val d’Aosta this morning and travel to Lake Como to catch the next stage of the Giro d’Italia, a hilly 172km route which includes the steep climb to the 1726 meter Piani dei Resinelli from Lecco on the shores of Lake Como.
We will enjoy a lakeside lunch on Lake Como before heading off on our ride. We’ll warm up our legs with a ride along the lake to Bellano before taking the quiet roads up above the lake with wonderful views to the lake below. Riding ahead of the race we’ll test our legs out on the climb to Piani dei Resinelli where we’ll see the pro riders as they make their way up the steeper sections of the climb to the finish. For those who have had enough of climbing we’ll do a pleasant ride along the shore of Lake Como and return to our hotel in Lecco in time to see the race pass through town on their way up to Piani de Resinelli.
After seeing the race it is an easy ride downhill to our hotel in Lecco. Tonight we enjoy dinner at our hotel with a magnificent view over Lake Como while we enjoy some delicous Italian food and wine.
Overnight: Lecco
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Monday 21 May 2012: Rest day
It is a rest day for the Giro d’Italia today, so we will use today to transfer from Lake Como to the town of Arabba in the heart of the Dolomites.
Before we leave Lake Como however we will experience another of Italy’s famous rides to the Madonna del Ghisallo. From the hotel we ride along the lake shore to the pretty town of Bellagio for coffee, then climb to the small chapel in which holds the shrine to cyclists. Only in Italy could anything like this be found! The Beata Vergine Maria Del Ghisallo was made the patron saint of Italian cyclists by Pope Pious XII in 1949 and her chapel is a shrine to cycling’s past and present greats. The site has recently been extended to include a large modern cycling museum dedicated to the bikes and the people that have made the sport famous. There is the bike ridden by Fausto Coppi to victory in the Giro in 1949 and the machine used by Moser for the hour record in 1984.
After our ride we will continue on over the plains of the Veneto to the magnificent scenery of the Dolomites. Our home for the next 3 nights is a comfortable 4 star hotel in the village of Arabba, surrounded by the most beautiful mountains in Italy. Arabba is a popular winter and summer resort due it’s splendid location in the Sella group of mountains offering fabulous ski-ing, walking and of course cycling.
Overnight: Arabba
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Tuesday 22 May 2012: Limone sul Garda – Falzes/Pfalzen (174 km)
After the rest day the Giro moves up from Lake Garda through Trento – Aldige to Falzes, located in the South Tyrol to our north. We will however skip the race today and take the opportunity to ride one of THE classic rides in the world, the Sella Ronda.
While the actual loop is only 52km it includes more than 1850 metres of climbing with four major passes, the Pordoi, Sella, Gardena and Campolongo. This will be a memorable part of the trip as it is definitely one of the world’s great rides. Don’t forget to stop at the top of Passo Pordoi where the Coppi monument is. Don’t be fooled by the short distance as it’s a tough ride but the scenery at this time of year is fantastic. The snow will still be on the side of the road in places and the rugged peaks of the Dolomites in every direction.
As our hotel is on the “loop” in between Passo Campolongo and Passo Pordoi you’ll be able to complete the loop by early afternoon and return to the hotel in plenty of time to relax this afternoon and see the race finish on TV.
Overnight: Arabba
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Wednesday 23 May 2012: Falzes/Pfalzen – Cortina d’Ampezzo (187 km)
Today’s stage of the Giro d’Italia is the toughest yet with 4 passes to climb over 187km from Falzes to the famous ski town of Cortina d’Ampezzo. The first pass of the stage is the 2197m Passo Valparola, followed by 1601m Passo Duran, the 1766m Forcella Staulanza and finally the 2236m Passo Giau. The race will finish with a fast 28km downhill run in to Cortina, so a combination of climbing and descending skills will be needed by the eventual stage winner.
We will have the option of seeing the race on any of the 4 passes, which are all within riding distance from Arabba. The opportunity exists to see the race twice today however, a unique opportunity. It’s a long steady climb from our hotel to Passo Valporala where we can see the race on the first climb of the day. From here it’s a nice descent down towards Cortina where we start the climb up Passo Giau to witness the first riders crest the summit on their way to the finish line. We’ll of course have easier options but no doubt many will want to take the chance to challenge themselves on these 2 famous climbs.
After we’ve seen the race we’ll descend to the bus and travel back to Arabba for a well earned dinner.
Overnight: Arabba
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Thursday 24 May 2012: San Vito di Cadore – Vedelago (139 km)
After a big day on the bike yesterday we can relax today and take in the scenery during our transfer across the north of Italy to Bormio, at the base of the climb to Passo dello Stevlio.
We’ll arrive in Bormio mid afternoon, in time to settle in to our hotel and take a ride up one of the local climbs. Depending on the time and energy available we’ll have a few choices, but the most likely is the pleasant climb up the switchbacks of the “Mini Stelvio” to the ruins of the Torri di Fraele fort high above Bormio. It’s a great ride with a 600 meter altitude gain over 9 kms of climbing, making it an easy enough ride to fit in before returning to the hotel for dinner.
Bormio is a medieval town surrounded by spectacular peaks and lies near the Swiss border. The old village has a pedestrian zone with small town shops, quaint restaurants and markets The town has thrived for centuries because of its thermal waters with spas that have been developed through the Roman, Medieval and the Imperial eras. Our hotel for the next 3 nights is close to the medieval town centre, wth a warm and friendly atmosphere and an excellent restaurant. The hotel is no stranger to cyclists, with its own small workshop and bike washing area and a free laundry service for your sweaty cycling clothes!
Overnight: Bormio
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Friday 25 May 2012: Treviso – Alpe di Pampeago (197km)
The Giro stage today from Treviso to Alpe di Pampeago is the final stage before the race heads across to Bormio and the ascent of the Stelvio tomorrow. We’ll take advantage of our location in Bormio to give you the chance to ride another famous climb.
Our focus today will be the Passo del Mortirolo (1854m), which features in tomorrow’s stage just before the Stelvio. The Mortirolo is considered to be the toughest mountain one can climb in Italy and many professionals consider it as the most difficult mountain to be climbed in any of the three major tours. Lucho Herrera (1991) referred to Mortirolo as being the “Queen climb of Europe” and Lance Armstrong referred to it as the hardest climb he’d ever ridden. Since Marco Pantani died in early 2004, stages of the Giro that go over Mortirolo feature a special prize to the first man at the top of the pass called Cima Pantani. We will ride from our hotel on the easy ride up the valley from Bormio to Mazzo di Valtellina where we join the race route up the Mortirolo. After a pause at the summit for photos we return to Bormio with time to relax and explore and see today’s Giro stage live on TV.
Tonight it’s another fabulous meal at our hotel with an amazing choice of some of the finest Italian food you’ll ever sample.
Overnight: Bormio
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Saturday 26 May 2012: Caldes/Val di Sole – Passo dello Stelvio (218 km)
The penultimate stage and most difficult stage of the 2012 Giro is 218 km long with a total elevation gain of about 5,900 meters with the Giro’s highest ever finish at 2757 meters on the Passo del Stelvio, Europe’s 2nd highest paved road. Before the ascent of Stelvio from Bormio the race must first face climbs over Passo Tonale and a tough climb up the infamous Mortirolo. The crowds today will be massive and the fans from all over the world will crowd the side of the mountain to witness this historical stage.
From our hotel in Bormio we’ll have a few options today to see the race, but most people will want to take a ride up the Stelvio today before the arrival of the race and choose a great spot to see the peloton make their way to the finish. After 200 kms and thousands of meters of climbing they’ll be tired, but the “climbers” will be motivated to take out an historic win. From Bormio our ride up Stelvio is a 45 km return ride with 21.5 kms of climbing with an altitude gain of 1533 vertical metres at an average gradient of 7.1 %. The climbing starts not far from town and it’s a constant climb all the way to the summit which straddles the border with Switzerland.
Tonight the town will be buzzing with race fans and we’ll celebrate a great day with a superb meal at our hotels’ restaurant.
Overnight: Bormio
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Sunday 27 May 2012: Milano – Milano ITT (31.5 km)
Our journey is coming to an end but we still have the thrill of the final 31.5 km Time Trial around the streets of Milan. Milan is the centre of the fashion industry but today the focus will be on the Giro D’Italia.
There will be no scheduled rides today, so you can spend the day in Milan taking in the sights and the excitement of the time trial. We will leave Bormio early and travel directly to our four star hotel in central Milan Hilton, located close to the race route.
Apart from the race today, Milan is the fashion capital of Europe and perhaps the world. It is a shopper’s delight with every big name represented as well as some smaller but very prestigious smaller design houses. It is very cosmopolitan and you can find cafes with food from every corner of the world. It is Italy’s financial centre with most of the major corporations basing their corporate headquarters here. The three highlights well worth a visit are the Duomo (cathedral) with its museum and rooftop terrace, then the Scala, the city’s famous opera house complete with its theatrical museum and Leonardo’s masterpiece, The Last Supper, in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Tonight we will have a farewell dinner where we can celebrate a great trip and farewell our new friends.
Overnight: Milan
Meals: Breakfast,Dinner
Monday 28 May 2012
Sadly today is the final day of our trip. Our hotel is close by the main train station so it is very convenient if you are continuing on your travels in Europe by train. For those of you who are flying out today from Malpensa or Linate airport transfers are available using the shuttle buses a few minutes walk away. Our staff will be available today to assist you in any way possible.
We hope it’s been a memorable journey for you discovering beautiful Italy with Bikestyle Tours and hope to see you again soon.
Meals: Breakfast
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Inclusions
Tour cost is per person twin share and includes:
-Transport throughout by private luxury coach with custom bike trailer.
-Services of our experienced tour guides, plus our coach driver.
-Transfer from Milan Malpensa airport on 17 May
-11 night’s accommodation, in selected hotels (with private facilities).
-Buffet breakfast daily
-3 or 4 course evening meals every night
-Mechanical assistance with your bike
-Sightseeing as listed
-Maps and Bikestyle guide to the Giro d’Italia
-Bikestyle Tours cycling jersey, cap and musette bag
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- By paying a deposit you are deemed to have accepted our Waiver and Reservation Conditions.
- We charge for our trips in Australian Dollars (AUD). We recommend that you check the exchange rate before booking.
- A surcharge of 1.5% is applicable for payments made with visa or mastercard and 3% for payments made with American Express credit cards.
- Deposits can also be paid by direct deposit or cheque. Please see below.
- It is a requirement of Bikestyle Tours that you have Travel Insurance for your trip.
- * We charge for our trips in Australian Dollars (AUD) and prices shown in other currencies are only approximate. We advise that you check the exchange rate before booking.
If you have any further enquiries please email us at tours@bikestyletours.com
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If you wish to pay by Bank Deposit or Cheque please tick the box below to get our Bank Details
Prior to paying a deposit it is advisable to confirm a place is available by sending an email to our Office Manager Michelle Knibbs, michelle@bikestyletours.com or telephone our office 07 38465999.
- By paying a deposit you are deemed to have accepted our Waiver and Reservation Conditions. If you have any further enquiries please email us at tours@bikestyletours.com.
- Don’t forget it is a requirement of Bikestyle Tours that you have Travel Insurance for your trip.
Purchase your International Travel Insurance here. - * We charge for our trips in Australian Dollars (AUD) and prices shown in other currencies are only approximate. We advise that you check the exchange rate before booking.
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