Italy: Dolomites

Giant fortresses, vineyards, and dramatic mountain summits are characteristic of Italy’s most Northern region. In the north lie the Austrian Alps, in the west the Swiss Alps and in the east the magnificent Italian Dolomites.

It’s not a coincidence that Giro d’Italia chose a significant portion of the Dolomites for the route – these mountains determine the winners with the weakest riders trailing to the rear during the race.

We left for the Dolomites in 2006 naïve and excited (you can read the full account in the blog). I’ll just mention that during the climb to Passo dello Stelvio you climb from an altitude of 800 metres to 2800 metres above sea level passing along 47 exhilarating hairpin turns.

There are relatively few plateaus in the Dolomites, which makes the riding experience all the more challenging. Every day we’ll ride around 100km and climb up at least 2000 meters, and experience the summits of Passo de Fedaia, Passo di Giau and Passo dello Stelvio, to name a few, but also visit the ski town of Cortina d’Ampezzo and an epic ride in the smaller Alp ranges – Alpe di Suisi.

We’ll land in Milan and then travel north to our destination – Passo Pordoi, a skiing town with an altitude of 2240 metres above sea level.

The excitement begins as soon as you take a turn off the highway – sprawling woods and pointed mountain tops creating majestic paintings in the sky, setting the scene for the start of our journey.

Walter, our lovely host, has already worked with hundreds of bike riders, and knows exactly what we need to the finest detail, making sure nothing is missing during our stay.

The healthy breakfast is served in a generous buffet, along with packed lunches prepared by Walter with care every morning. After riding, the jacuzzi lies waiting, followed by a dinner feast. All the rides are escorted by vehicle.

During the week we will ride 600km and over 12,500metres of accumulated altitude.

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