Day 1

SAT May 24th › Welcome to Italy!

Our trip starts at Venice Marco Polo airport where our staff will be there to welcome you before the transfer to our hotel in Alleghe in the heart of the Dolomites.

After lunch, we'll have our orientation meeting, build up the bikes then it's time for our first taste of climbing in the Dolomites with a 35 mile loop including the climb to Forcella Aurine.

Today's Major Climbs:

Day 2

SUN May 25th › LIVE Race Viewing
Passo Fedaia

The Giro d'Italia heads into the Dolomites today with a massive stage over 5 passes!. We've planned to view the stage finish on the climb to Passo Fedaia only 20km from our hotel in Alleghe.

Group A riders will ride the same route just a few hours ahead of the peloton over the Passo Giau, Passo Falzarego and the Passo Fedaia. Group B riders will ride directly to the Passo Fedaia.

Today's Major Climbs:

Day 3

MON May 26th › LIVE Race Viewing
Plan de Corones Time Trial

With an average grade of over 10% and the maximum grade topping out at 24%, the final 5km gravel-road climb to Plan de Corones will no doubt be one of the highlights of the 2008 race season.

We'll be there on the final stretch to watch how the riders fare on this brutal time trial that will should blow the general classification apart.

Today's Major Climbs:

Day 4

TUE May 27th › Ronde Sella

The classic loop around the Gruppo di Sella mountain range has to be one of the most spectacular bike rides in Europe.

From our hotel in Alleghe, Group A riders will tackle the longer route over the Passo Pordoi, Passo Sella, Passo Gardena and the Passo Valparola. A total of 70 miles and over 7,500 ft of climbing!

Group B riders will take the shorter route home over the Passo Campolongo for a total of 60 miles and 5,750ft of climbing.

Today's Major Climbs:

Day 5

WED May 28th › San Pellegrino

The Passo San Pellegrino is another Giro d'Italia favorite and was the first climb on Sunday's stage that finished on the Passo Fedaia. We'll tackle the much tougher eastern approach with the final 6km averaging out at 10%!

From the San Pellegrino we climb the relatively easy Passo Costalunga before the spectacular drop down into Bolzano.

Today's Major Climbs:

Day 6

THU May 29th › Take it easy....???

By this point we'll have had 5 days of challenging riding and with the Passo Gavia looming tomorrow there's the option to have an easy day today.

Those who need a rest can chill out in charming Bolzano or join our 30 mile recovery ride through the orchards surrounding Bolzano.

Of course for the die-hards we have a challenging ride through San Genesio high in the mountains to the north of Bolzano.

Today's Major Climbs:

Day 7

FRI May 30th › The Gavia or the Stelvio!

We have 2 options for today's ride.

Option 1 includes the Cima Coppi of this years Giro, the 8,500 ft Passo Gavia which the Giro riders will have to tackle tomorrow (Saturday).

Option 2 takes us over the Passo Stelvio! Normally the Stelvio is closed until the end of the 1st week in June but if it does open ahead of schedule we will definitely ride this legendary climb.

Today's Major Climbs:

Group	Climb	Elev. Gain (feet)	Average Grade	Length (miles)	Profile (m/km)	Difficulty Index
A & B	Passo Mendola	3,145 ft	6.5%	9.2 miles		89
A & B	Passo Tonale	3,015 ft	6.0%	9.4 miles		85
A & B	Passo Gavia	4,470 ft	7.9%	10.7 miles		147
A & B	Passo Stelvio*	5,930 ft	7.4%	15.1 miles		172

* Weather permitting

Day 8

SAT May 31st › LIVE Race Viewing
The Mortirolo

We finish the trip with another Giro d'Italia Classic Climb: the Mortirolo! The Mortirolo is one of the toughest climbs in Europe: almost 8 miles at an average grade of 10.5%!

Our hotel is ideally situated just 28km from Mazzo di Valtellina at the bottom of the Mortirolo.

The Mortirolo is the final climb of the 2008 Giro d'Italia and the last opportunity for the climbers to make their mark. Expect a fantastic afternoon of racing with a huge, passionate crowd!

Today's Major Climbs:

Day 9

SUN June 1st › Arrivederci

End of our trip and final transfer to Milan Malpensa airport.