5* Luxury, 4 day Florence cycling holiday in Italy. Celebrate the arrival of the 2022 cycling season on this Classic Tuscany Cycle Tour based in stunning Florence.
Duration
PriceTo celebrate the arrival of the 2022 cycling season, Cycology Travel Ltd is launching its ‘Season Opener’ our Classic Tuscany Cycle Tour in Tuscany, Italy from Thursday 7th April – Sunday 10th April 2022. Brush off the cobwebs, build up some base mile and experience what this cycling paradise has to offer. Smooth roads, picturesque views, fertile valleys and tranquil turquoise waters.
Your hotel base is the multi-award winning 5* Villa San Michele, A Belmond hotel nestled in the hills overlooking the city of Florence, where modern luxury meets Renaissance splendour, making it a stunning location, allowing you to immerse yourself in 5* refinement. The hotel – a former 14th Century monastery – is known for its luxury, perfectly capturing the romance and culture of Florence. With a façade, attributed to Michelangelo, it is hugged by lush woodland and terraced gardens. Once you step outside, you can gaze down across Florence and the Chianti foothills beyond.
This Florence cycling holiday in Italy is your cycling playground. Dine on sensational cuisine, where they use only the best and freshest local ingredients while sipping a bellini in the fragrant gardens under the Tuscan sun, with the city as your backdrop. Enjoy its 25m outdoor heated swimming pool which is ideal after an active day in the saddle or if you still have a bit of energy left, try the state of the art gym with views over looking Florence or relax in the Salus Regina Wellness suite with a massage or wellness treatment. Florence averages 7 hours of sun per day, making it almost sure to be better than at home – with average April temperatures of 19c + (66f) giving you the opportunity to shed those winter layers and soak up the sun rays and top up that vitamin D.
This Classic Tuscany Cycle Tour will be a fantastic way to get out and ride with like-minded, motivated people to give you that all important confidence boost and to kick-start your cycling season. This is more than just a luxury Florence cycling holiday in Italy, this is an experience for a limited number of guest to enjoy the challenges and camaraderie of a group ride along the rolling hills and roads with stunning olive groves views.
Itinerary for Florence cycling holiday in Italy:
With the Tuscan capital of Florence as your base, it’s pretty much true that you can head out in any direction and find your own bit of cycling paradise. While you won’t be encountering peaks like in the Dolomites, there’s enough variety to keep most riders happy for months, if not years. The Giro d’Italia often passes by and don’t forget that 2013 saw Florence host the UCI World Championships, which culminated in a tough course around the infamous hills above the city.
The terrain ranges from majestic rolling landscape, steep punchy climbs, riverside valleys and mountain passes, which makes it an excellent place for cycling breaks. In fact, Giro d’Italia and Tour de France legend Gino Bartali hailed from the area and more recent stars such as Mark Cavendish have made Florence and the neighbouring provinces of Prato and Pistoia their home.
The amateur scene is one of the best in the country too, with weekly rallies and races such as the flagship Granfondo Firenze De Rosa and the aptly-named Muretti Madness for lovers of all things vertical above 25%.
Day One: Prologue Ride ( 7th April 2022)
The Classic Tuscany Cycle Tour begins with this great taster ride which quickly gets you up high above the city for some mini mountain fun. The climb starts on the World Championships course, ramping up a bit around the ancient town of Fiesole, with spectacular views of Florence below. The gradient eases off a bit after Fiesole and we find ourselves on a ridge looking across a stunning valley to Monte Morello. At a cross- roads you can relax at the bar or continue on via an undulating sector to the small town of Pratolino, where a swift sideroad carries us away towards Monte Morello. The fir tree lined tarmac feels alpine and the lack of traffic is in complete contrast the bustle of the city below. At the summit, you’ll find a restaurant and a viewpoint before a rollercoaster descent where we can hit some serious speeds. When safely down in the valley below, we avoid the main roads by climbing a little along the foothills back towards Florence. And a ride here wouldn’t be complete without a steep wall climb or two before arriving back at your hotel.
44 km distance with 960 m elevation gain.
Day Two: Chianti Classico (8th April 2022)
The number one ride has to be into the Chianti wine region! From the get go we take to the rolling hills, passing towns and villages as you roll out into the quiet serenity of the vineyards and olive groves. Spectacular views come into view at every turn as we ride a ridge road through thick evergreen foliage on the way to Castellina in Chianti. Then a fun sector of fast sweeping corners takes you downhill until a climb up to Panzano before the drop down towards Greve where a great pasticceria awaits. This is the centre of Tuscan wine country and you may be tempt- ed to slide a bottle of the local red into your bottle cage! Then we head out of town and upwards to Impruneta, famed for its terracot- ta before heading back to base.
75 km distance with 1440 m elevation gain.
Day Three: Apennine Challenge (9th April 2022)
Heading west along the rolling road that follows the Arno upstream to Pontessieve we take the route along the Sieve river past Rufina. The climb through Pomino to Borselli is gorgeous before heading higher up to the Consuma Pass which tops out at 1050 metres above sea level. If you fancy a snack here, order the famed schiac- ciata sandwich filled with local cured ham. Following in the tyre tracks of the Giro, we head over the top towards the Casentino valley before hugging the mountainside on a loop climbing and then descending through the forests to the hidden Abbey of Vallombrosa. After filling our bottles from the abbey fountain, the technical descent through the fir trees and then open hillside will eventually bring us back down to Earth. At the Arno, if the legs allow, we climb sharply at Rignano. The run into town is more forgiving and you’ll be looking forward to a big meal and a soft bed.
86 km distance with 1940 m elevation gain.
Day Four: Pro Hill Training 10th April 2022)
We start the final tour downstream and on towards the olive groves around the very pleasant hilltop town of Carmignano. Save a bit of energy for the final few kilometres up the winding curves and hairpins until Pinone where we can enjoy refreshment at the bar. From here, we can drop down to Vinci, home to Leonardo of the same name and the incredibly fun climb to San Baronto where we might bump into one of the local cycling stars at the Bar L’Indicatore. Heading down hill and back south, a stop at the pasticceria Vezzosi in Montelupo Fiorentino is an absolute must. From there we loop back home through the Chianti vineyards of the Val di Pesa before a final climb and twisty technical descent back towards Florence.
50 km distance with 620 m elevation gain.
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