Guests will arrive in Venice (VCE), and we will shuttle everyone to our hotel in Corvara. Plan on a 3.5-hour transfer with stops. After you register, we will email all the arrival/transfer details.

Everyone will have time to settle into the house and enjoy our first chef-prepared meal.

After lunch, our mechanics will work on building guest bikes or fitting people to their rentals. We will depart for an afternoon shakeout spin once all the bikes are ready and all the guests have arrived.

Our Arrival Day spin begins with a short 1-mile circuit through and around Corvara to help you get your bearings. Then the climbing begins.

Heading south from Corvara, we climb Passo Campolongo (3.5 mi / 1,100’ at 6.2% avg gradient). One option is to return to Corvara at the pass.

If you’re ready to test your climbing legs, we will descend to the town of Arabba before turning around and climbing Passo Campolongo’s south side (2.5 mi / 900’ at 7% avg gradient).

9-13 miles & 1,200′ – 2,100′

Accommodations: Posta Zirm (Corvara)

What’s better than enjoying the views of the Sella Massif from Hotel Posta Zirm? Cycling the four-pass (quattro passi) loop around this impressive group of mountains! The loop’s 32 miles are quite possibly the finest 32 miles of cycling anywhere.

Countless switchbacks and constant ascending and descending provide everchanging perspectives of the truly geologically unique mountains you are circling. All of the stunning beauty is a welcome distraction from the nearly 5,500’ you’ll gain over four passes.

We’ll pause for lunch on our last pass, where Utia La Tambra offers a range of traditional Tirolean options. After lunch, hop in the van or enjoy the short 3-mile descent back to Hotel Posta Zirm.

Sella Ronda Loop: 32 miles & 5,500′

Accommodations: Posta Zirm (Corvara)

Whether it’s knowledge of the cycling legends that have been made on this climb, the moment you climb out of the forest to the revelation of countless peaks of indescribable beauty, or simply the accomplishment of completing a challenging climb, it’s bound to be an emotion-filled day.

But Passo Giau is not the only climb on today’s route! After a picnic lunch in the mountain amphitheater of Passo Giau, you’ll descend towards Cortina before turning onto the climbs of Passo Falzarego and Passo Valparola. Compared to Giau, these are gentle climbs. And with no descent between Falzarego and Valparola, they are really more like a single climb. From Passo Valparola, you’ll enjoy nearly 9 miles of descending to Alta Badia, the valley in which Corvara lies, before turning up the valley for a few more miles to the finish.

For those looking for a slightly easier day, a shuttle over Passo Campolongo eliminates the first climb and the first 11 miles of the route. Taking a “bump” in the van over any of the climbs is always an option. It’s a challenging day, and our guides are there to support you, whatever you choose in terms of distance.

Here’s how the day’s climbs stack up:

• Passo Campolongo (3.3 mi / 1,057’ @ 5.9% avg gradient)

• Passo Giau (5.9 mi / 2,900’ @ 9.4% avg gradient)

• Passo Falzarego (6.4 mi / 1,863’ @ 5.6% avg gradient)

• Passo Valparola (0.7 mi / 306’ @ 7.3% avg gradient)

Passo Giau: 32-52 miles & 4,500 – 8,200′

Accommodations: Posta Zirm (Corvara)

With two big climbing days in your legs, it’s a good thing that today is our transfer to Bormio. Our four-hour shuttle includes a bathroom break and a picnic lunch in the town of Tubre on the Italian border with Switzerland. The last leg of the drive takes us up and over the Umbrail Pass, then down into Bormio, where your bikes and luggage are waiting for you at Agriturismo Rini, a luxury hotel and a working dairy farm.

The ride option entails a beautiful climb up 18 switchbacks and through two tunnels to the medieval towers known as Torri di Fraele, then beyond to the Laghi di Cancano (Cancano Lakes). At 20 miles with 3,000’ of climbing, this isn’t exactly a “recovery spin.”

But for those looking to ride every mile on offer, it’s a hidden gem. Another option is to ride in the support van to Laghi di Cancano, where you can take a leisurely stroll along the lake.

Still more options include exploring Bormio on foot or an afternoon soaking in the thermal pools at Bagni Nuovi, one of the spas for which Bormio is known.

Laghi di Cancano: 20 miles & 3,000′

Accommodations: Agriturismo Rini (Bormio)

Passo di Gavia will forever be known for the epic effort of Andy Hampsten on Stage 14 of the 1988 Giro d’Italia. Hampsten, climbing from the other side of the Gavia, braved a snowstorm and temps in the 20s to the finish in Bormio. But he took enough time on his nearest competitors to gain the leader’s pink jersey, which he held to the finish of the three-week race, becoming the only American to win the Giro.

Climbing the Gavia from the Bormio side begins with a long and relatively easy warmup through the Valfurva. Just past Santa Caterina the real climbing begins. As the road leaves the forest, incredible Alpine views open up. The out-and-back route turns around at the pass for the return to Bormio, but it is worth descending about a mile or so over the backside for a view of the road Hampsten climbed on the historic day in 1988.

At 8,600’ elevation, it is 1,300’ higher than Passo Giau. And at 16 miles, it’s slightly longer than its more famous neighbor, Passo Stelvio.

Passo Gavia (16 mi / 4,900’ @ 6% avg gradient) does allow you to ease into the climb. The first 7.5 miles average just 4.5%. The next 7.5 miles average 7% with a short half-mile ramp of almost 11%. But the final 1.5 miles ease up as you skirt along Lago Bianco and the pass comes into view.

After returning to Bormio, we’ll enjoy lunch at Agriturismo Rini and then have the rest of the afternoon to relax and explore Bormio.

Gavia: 33 miles & 5,000

Accommodations: Agriturismo Rini (Bormio)

At 9,045’, Passo Stelvio is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps and second in all of the Alps only to Col de l’Iseran. Better known are its 48 hairpin turns, 32 of which come in the final 6 miles of the 15.5-mile climb. You’ll sometimes see Passo Stelvio as a featured stage in the Giro d’Italia, though less frequent due to the difficulty of ensuring a safe and passable road in May when the Giro happens.

While the 6.5 miles to the first switchback may seem humdrum, averaging just 5.8%, the climbing soon becomes more strenuous and consistently averages 8%. After the first 24 switchbacks and 11 miles of climbing, you can now see your objective sitting a further 1,800’ up in the sky.

Piled in an inconceivable stack, one upon another, the ribbon of road ahead of you scales the headwall of the ancient glacier that carved this valley. Pulled straight and laid flat, it would be an easy four miles of pedaling. The good news is that the remaining 24 switchbacks, each conveniently signed with its number in descending order, are so tightly packed that the remainder of the climb is best broken down by number of switchbacks rather than distance.

And before you know it, the mayhem of the pass will be upon you. Vendors selling every imaginable Stelvio souvenir crowd into the roadway as the smell of sausages on the grill wafts through the thin air at 9,000’. You’ve done it! There are many rewards for your effort, but one of the most enjoyable is the 14 miles of descending on your way back to Bormio.

Whether you attempt the “double Stelvio” (riding from Bormio to Umbrail Pass, down into Val Müstair, and then climbing the Stelvio again from the classic Prato allo Stelvio side), or opt for the shuttle over Umbrail Pass to start in Val Müstair, it’s likely going to be the most epic day you’ve ever had on a bike.

The Stelvio: 30-63 miles & 6,100 – 10,600′

Accommodations: Agriturismo Rini (Bormio)

On our final day, we’ll transfer the group to the closest train station in Tirano, about 40 minutes away from Bormio. Guests can decide where they want to go in order to depart Italy or to start the next chapter of their trip. Many guests have stayed a night in Milan, the closest large city to the end of the trip. Those with a round-trip ticket in and out of Venice can catch a 5-hour train ride back there. 

We will send a trip PDF once you book with more arrival/departure details to help in the planning process.

Today’s Plan: Departure Day

Checkout by 11 a.m.