Our hotel in Alleghe |
Day 1
SUN May 20 › 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.
After lunch, we'll have our orientation meeting, build up the bikes then a short warm-up ride to loosen the legs before tomorrows big ride over the Passo San Pellegrino and Passo Valles.
Today's Ride Summary: 20 miles / 1,950 ft elev. gain
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Today's Major Climbs: |
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Climb |
Elev. Gain (feet) |
Average Grade |
Length
(miles) |
Profile
(m/km) |
Difficulty
Index |
No major climbs today |
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15% section on the San Pellegrino |
Day 2
MON May 21 › Passo San Pellegrino
A beautiful ride today over one of the classic Dolomite climbs: the Passo San Pellegrino. The climb starts 10km down the valley from Alleghe and it's not long before we're climbing sections of 15%!
From the summit we head down towards Moena and Predazzo before beginning the long climb up to the Passo Valles. Take it easy at the start of the Valles, the climb gets steeper and steeper as we get closer to the summit...
Today's Ride Summary: 60 miles / 7,700 ft elev. gain
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Today's Major Climbs: |
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Climb |
Elev. Gain (feet) |
Average Grade |
Length
(miles) |
Profile
(m/km) |
Difficulty
Index |
Passo San Pellegrino |
3,753 ft |
6.3% |
11.3 miles |
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97 |
Passo Valles |
1,617 ft |
8.2% |
3.7 miles |
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79 |
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Climbing the Passo Sella |
Day 3
TUE May 22 › Sella Ronde
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, we'll head over the Passo Pordoi, Passo Sella and Passo Gardena to Corvara. In Corvara there are 2 options - take the long road over the Passo Valparola or the shorter and less-challenging option over the Passo Campolongo. The distances and elevation gain shown here reflect the longer route over the Valparola.
Today's Ride Summary: 68 miles / 8,850 ft elev. gain
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Today's Major Climbs: |
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Climb |
Elev. Gain (feet) |
Average Grade |
Length
(miles) |
Profile
(m/km) |
Difficulty
Index |
Passo Pordoi |
2,090 ft |
6.8% |
5.8 miles |
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73 |
Passo Sella |
1,309 ft |
7.3% |
3.4 miles |
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61 |
Passo Gardena |
820 ft |
4.2% |
3.7 miles |
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36 |
Passo Valparola |
2,631 ft |
5.8% |
8.6 miles |
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88 |
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Spectacular views guaranteed on the Giau! |
Day 4
WED May 23 › GIRO d'ITALIA: Passo Giau!
Arguably the toughest stage of the Giro: 187km with no less than 4 categorized climbs!
From our hotel in Alleghe we'll follow the race route over the final 3 climbs of the stage. A 20km ride down the valley takes us to Agordo and the bottom of the Passo Duran. From the Duran we descend to Dont then up the Forcella Staulanza climb before dropping down to Selva de Cadore and the final climb of the day, the spectacular Passo Giau.
Our vantage point teams will have staked out a top spot close to the Giau summit so we can enjoy an exciting afternoon of racing including LIVE satellite TV coverage in English.
Today's Ride Summary: 59 miles / 8,750 ft elev. gain
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Today's Major Climbs: |
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Climb |
Elev. Gain (feet) |
Average Grade |
Length
(miles) |
Profile
(m/km) |
Difficulty
Index |
Passo Duran |
3,255 ft |
7.9% |
7.8 miles |
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126 |
Forcella Staulanza |
2,766 ft |
6.7% |
7.8 miles |
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88 |
Passo Giau |
2,349 ft |
8.3% |
5.3 miles |
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97 |
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The Passo Fedaia |
Day 5
THU May 24 › Passo Fedaia
Today's ride takes us out of the Dolomites as we head over towards the Italian Alps for Saturday's penultimate stage on the Stelvio.
Our route out of the Dolomites takes us over the Passo Fedaia, one of the most beautiful and challenging climbs in the Dolomites. From the Fedaia we have a long drop down to Vigo di Fassa where we start the short climb up to the Passo Costalunga. A 25km descent takes us to Bolzano then we can enjoy a rare stretch of riding on the flat as we take the valley road to our hotel in Merano.
Today's Ride Summary: 70 miles / 6,400 ft elev. gain
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Today's Major Climbs: |
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Climb |
Elev. Gain (feet) |
Average Grade |
Length
(miles) |
Profile
(m/km) |
Difficulty
Index |
Passo Fedaia |
3,474 ft |
7.5% |
8.8 miles |
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133 |
Passo Costalunga |
1,345 ft |
4.1% |
6.1 miles |
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53 |
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The final switchbacks on the Stelvio
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Day 6
FRI May 25 › Passo Stelvio
Today's ride features the 48 switchbacks up the northern approach of the Passo Stelvio. Here at Thomson Bike Tours the Stelvio definitely stands out as one of our all-time favourite climbs.
From Merano we have a 40km warm-up ride through the apple orchards that line the Venosta valley before reaching Prato allo Stelvio and the start of the climb. The summit, at over 9000 ft, lies just 26km up the road....enjoy!
Today's Ride Summary: 60 miles / 7,500 ft elev. gain
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Today's Major Climbs: |
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Climb |
Elev. Gain (feet) |
Average Grade |
Length
(miles) |
Profile
(m/km) |
Difficulty
Index |
Passo Stelvio (north) |
5,932 ft |
7.4% |
15.1 miles |
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172 |
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Get close to the race at our vantage point on the Stelvio |
Day 7
SAT May 26 › GIRO d'ITALIA: Passo Stelvio!
The penultimate stage of the 2012 Giro features the first ever summit finish on the Passo Stelvio - and of course we'll be there to witness all the action.
Our hotel is perfectly situation in Bormio, at the bottom of the Passo Stelvio. Our longer ride take us down the valley to Mazzo and includes both the Mortirolo and the Passo Stelvio. There's also the option to climb the Stelvio directly from the hotel.
Our race-vantage point will be set up close to the summit of the Stelvio so we can witness the best of the action on the final climb of the 2012 Giro.
Today's Ride Summary: 58 miles / 10,200 ft elev. gain
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Today's Major Climbs: |
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Climb |
Elev. Gain (feet) |
Average Grade |
Length
(miles) |
Profile
(m/km) |
Difficulty
Index |
Passo Mortirolo |
4,265 ft |
10.5% |
7.7 miles |
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186 |
Passo Stelvio (south) |
5,030 ft |
7.1% |
13.4 miles |
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144 |
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Day 8
SUN May 27 › Arrivederci
End of our trip and final transfer to Milan Malpensa
airport. |
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