| Meet the SFIDA Cycling team at the Bologna Airport (BLQ) or a designated hotel nearby.
Once the group is together, we will transfer by van to our hotel in Bagno di Romanga. Upon arrival, we will proceed with our usual trip presentation, bike build-up and fitting and a light lunch. For our first ride from Bagno, we will ride a loop including part of the Monte Fumaiolo climb. This is a great ride to get used to the Italian roads in Emilia Romagna. Dinner at the hotel.
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Day 1
37km / 860m
CLIMB: Monte Fumaiolo.
HOTEL: Roseo Euroterme Wellness Resort
TDF STAGE 1: Firenze to Rimini 206km.
For our second ride of the trip, we will start riding from our hotel in Bagno di Romangna and climb up the Passo del Carnaio. After Santa Sofia, we will ride up the Passo della Bracina.
Soon after we start descending the Passo dell Bracina, we will join with the descend of the Passo dei Tre Faggi, here is where we will start riding part of the TDF stage route ahead of the peloton.
Once back in Santa Sofia, we will check where the peloton is, and maybe we will watch the race passing through at this place.
The rest of the ride will be following the route up to Passo del Carnaio but via Spinello, like the TDF and finally, descend back to Bagno di Romagna on time to see the end of the stage on tv.
Dinner at the hotel.
Day 2
97km / 2,100m
CLIMBS: Passo del Carnaio (both sides), Passo della Bracina, Passo Monte delle Forche.
HOTEL: Roseo Euroterme Wellness Resort
TDF STAGE 2: Cesenatico to Bologna 200km.
Today we will check out of our hotel and transfer to Castel San Pietro Terme.
Here will start riding the last 65km of the Stage 2, this includes a few hills in the Emilia Romagna countryside before we reach Bologna.
In Bologna, the TDF stage will do a couple of loops including two ascends to San Luca, the famous Santuario della Beata Vergine de San Luca, a very iconic religious destination. One of the main characteristics is the longest covered portico in the world, begining at the Porta de Saragozza, it is nearly 4km long when it reaches San Luca. It will be an amazing spot to watch the race.
Dinner en route to our hotel in Piemonte after the race.
Day 3
67km / 1,345m
CLIMBS: Monte Grande, Montecalvo, San Luca.
HOTEL: Albergo dell’Agenzia
TDF STAGE 3: Piacenza to Turin 229km.
We are in Piemonte now, in the Barolo and Langhe wine region.
Our ride will start with the climb up La Morra, this beautiful spot up in the hills will give us great views over the Barolo vineyards.
We will have coffee in the nice town of Barolo before continuing our ride through the hills, including the climbs up to Roddino and Benevello. Later on the ride we will arrive to Barbaresco, from then we will ride part of the stage 3 of the TDF.
Our plan is to see the race passing through at Alba, the beautiful truffle capital of Piemonte. And of course, enjoy a great lunch before riding back to our hotel.
Dinner at our hotel.
Day 4
98km / 1,970m
CLIMBS: La Morra, Roddino, Barbaresco Hills.
HOTEL: Albergo dell’Agenzia
TDF STAGE 4: Pinerolo to Valloire 138km.
Today we will be see the TDF live for the last time on this trip. As mentioned in our introduction, we think that 3-4 days of live viewing is good enough, plus the 2024 route takes the peloton to regions in the middle of France that, although beautiful, don’t have the same appeal than riding in the Alps.
An early transfer to Briancon in France, will take us to the start of the Col de Lautaret. The peloton will ride up this road later today.
We will ride from Briancon to the top of the Col du Galibier, this is one of the most iconic climbs in the French Alps.
The Col du Galibier was first climbed at the TDF in 1911, on that stage, only 3 of the riders where able to ride through without walking, imagine the condition of the road…more like a gravel path. Since then it has been part of the race on many ocasions.
Our plan will be to watch the race at some point on the climb, depending on the weather.
After the race, we will transfer to our hotel in Alpe d’Huez, where we will stay for two nights.
Dinner at the hotel.
Day 5
45km / 1,400m
CLIMBS: Col du Lautaret, Col du Galibier.
HOTEL: Hotel Grandes Rousses
After four consecutive days watching the Tour de France by the side of the road, it is time to ride in the French Alps.
The aim of this second part of our trip, is to take you from Alpe d’Huez to close to Nice in the Mediterranean, riding and climbing some of the most iconic mountains on the way.
Today we start with the most famous climb in France, and maybe in Europe, the Alpe d’Huez. First climbed at the TDF in 1952, it was also the first time that a stage was followed by motorcycles with tv cameras. The winner of the stage was the legendary Fausto Coppi.
Our clients will enjoy a beautiful ride down the valley via the cliff road via Villard Reculas, then down to Allemond, cycle path to Bourg d’Oisans for coffee.
From Bourg d’Oisans, the most iconic 21 hairpins are waiting for you to climb all the way to the official TDF finish line in Alpe d’Huez.
Note that each hairpin is numbered in ascending order, and each have the name of one of two cyclist that have won a stage at the summit.
Dinner at the hotel.
Day 6
45km / 1,265m
CLIMB: Alpe d’Huez.
HOTEL: Hotel Grandes Rousses
For the next four days, our riding will cover some of the most beautiful and highest climbs in the French Alps. In our ride from Alpe d’Huez to Nice, expect to enjoy some of your best rides ever!
We will leave our hotel and ride the same route to Allemond, from there, the Col de la Croix de Fer starts, this is a 30km long climb with 1,600m of elevation gain. Not the hardest but definitely one of the nicest, specially the section of the Grand Maison lake all the way to the top.
Once you arrive to the top and see the Croix de Fer (Iron Cross), you made it to one of the cycling santuary’s in the Alps.
From the top it is a long and thrilling descend to Saint Jean de Maurienne. Instead of head to our hotel, we suggest to continue our planned ride up the Lacets de Montvernier, close to town, this is one of the most unique climbs you can imagine.
The Lacets are short and with a section of 18 hairpins in 3km, a beauty of a climb. After reaching Montvernier we will return back to Saint Jean via Le Chatel.
Dinner in Saint Jean de Maurienne.
Day 7
93km / 2,200m
CLIMBS: Col de la Croix de Fer, Lacets de Montvernier.
HOTEL: Hotel Saint Georges
A truly high Alpine ride today, starting in Saint Jean de Maurienne, we will ride towards its sister town of Saint Michel de Maurienne. Note that the Maurienne valley has an endless list of incredible climbs, it is hard to chose which ones to do.
From Saint Michel de Maurienne we will start climbing up the Col du Telegraphe, this climb is forever tied up with the Col du Galibier, as there is only a few kilometers of downhill in between them.
After reaching the top of the Telegraphe, a short descent takes us to Valloire (where the TDF Stage 4 ended a few days ago), here we will start the climb up the Col du Galibier, one of the French Alps giants.
This side of the Galibier is very spectacular, and tough, specially the section from Plan Lachat to the top, 9km of memorable memories ahead.
From the top of the Galibier, we will descend to the Col de Lautaret and continue descending on the main road all the way to the historical city of Briancon.
Dinner in Briancon.
Day 8
85km / 2,300m
CLIMBS: Col du Galibier, Col du Telegraphe.
HOTEL: Hotel Mont Brison
Continuing on our epic journey to the Mediterranean city of Nice, today we will climb two TDF classic climbs.
Col d’Izoard, starting in Briancon, has seen some of the most epic battles in past editions. Both sides are beautiful and we will be lucky to enjoy the climb from Briancon and the descend to Guillestre.
On the descend, just a couple of kilometres after we left the top, we will see the monuments dedicated to Fausto Coppi and Louison Bobet.
Once in Guillestre, we will approach the Col de Vars, another nice climb above 2,000m. From the top it is a 21km descend all the way to Jausiers via the Ubaye valley.
Dinner at the hotel.
Day 9
92km / 2,725m
CLIMBS: Col d’Izoard, Col de Vars.
HOTEL: Villa Morelia
Our last ride will be another epic one, from Jausiers, we will start climbing up the Col de la Bonette, at 2,802m. this is the highest pass in Europe, in tight competition with many other climbs that are very close in altitude.
From Jausiers it is a 23km long and 1,600m. elevation gain climb, gradients are always between 5-8% which makes this climb a very enjoyable one, even at that altitude.
From the top, we will descend to the Tinee valley, this is a long valley all the way to Pont de Clans. Here we will end our ride and transfer to Nice.
Dinner in Nice.
Day 10
93km / 2,090m
CLIMB: Col de la Bonette.
HOTEL: Radisson Hotel Nice Airport
DAY 11: Au revoir!
After breakfast, as our hotel is just near Nice’s airport, we will organize drop offs according to our clients needs during the morning.
MORE INFORMATION
PRICES:
TWIN room: 5,650 Euros pp
SINGLE Supplement: 1,250 Euros
Rental bike: 850 Euros
Rental road e-bike: 850 Euros, limited availability, book early.
PAYMENT TERMS:
1,000 Euros when making the booking. Balance to be paid 120 days before the trip starts.
INCLUDED:
10 nights of accommodation between 3 – 4 Stars, hotels may change from the ones we initially plan depending on availability when confirming for all the group.
ALL MEALS INCLUDED.
10 breakfasts.
10 lunches, picnic-style on longer days.
10 dinners, including wine.
SFIDA CYCLING KIT:
You will receive a pair of bib shorts and our new 2024 jersey.
NOT INCLUDED:
International flights.
Travel insurance.
Hotel extras: mini-bar, spa, massage.
Tips for the staff.
SUPPORT:
We will have ride leaders and at least one mechanic on our trip.
Our staff/client ratio is 1:4 staff.
Our passenger vans come fully equipped with all necessary to give the best support during the rides.
We carry gels, energy bars, powder mix, water, fruit, riding food, tools, pumps, spare tubes and tyres to make sure our first-class support helps you through the trip.
Professional first aid kit.
CANCELLATION POLICY:
Adapting to the changes in international change after the COVID-19 pandemic, and incoordination, with most of the hotel’s terms and conditions, we are adjusting our cancellation policy accordingly as follows:
120 days before the trip starts – the return of your deposit minus any expenses that we may not be able to reimburse.
90 days before the trip starts – partial refund of the amount of the trip less 300 Euros cancellation fee, plus any amount that we can’t recover from Hotels, and other costs that we may have already incurred in the trip preparation.
Less than 60 days before the trip starts – no amount will be refunded. We will, however, try to credit as much as possible towards a future trip. This depends on the amount that we can get back from the hotels and other costs that we have already incurred in the trip preparation.
We highly recommend to contract travel insurance as soon you pay the deposit and buy your international flights.
Make sure your travel insurance covers:
- Refund of the amounts paid in case you need to cancel for any reason.
- Covers the cost of possible damages to your rental bike. Check our T&C for this.
For the reasons, we won’t be holding any spots until the full deposit has been paid.
Hotels are now more strict with how many rooms they are willing to have on hold for groups, so until deposit payments are made we won’t be able to confirm your spot.
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