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A big hearty Tyrolean welcome! We’ll greet you in northern Europe’s most southern hub, Innsbruck, and travel the great Brenner Motorway to our 5-star hotel in the heart of the Alto-Adige. We’ll enjoy an informal lunch as we assemble and fit bikes. Our warm up ride is through the Alta Badia in the shadows of the mountains most famous peaks. Fabio Cucchelli introduces us to high mountain cuisine at his locally sourced restaurant and wine bar.

Ride distance: 25 miles Overnight: San Cassiano/Hotel Spa Rosa Alpina

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Italian legend Fausto Coppi claimed his first Giro d’Italia title in 1942 with an impressive stage win that included the Passo Giau, Passo di Falzarego and the Passo di Valparola.  The Giau has been awarded the Cima Coppi prize in the Giro d’Italia twice, honoring the great legend and the first rider over the highest pass of each Giro. Stage one of our tour tackles these climbs in two different loops.

Ride distance: 45 or 55 miles Overnight: San Cassiano/Hotel Spa Rosa Alpina

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If the Pyrenees have the Circle of Death, then the Dolomites have the Circle of Beauty: the Sella Ronda. One of the most beautiful, dramatic and challenging loops in cycling, our ride climbs the passes of the Campolongo, Pordoi, Marmolada, Sella and Gardena.  The Passo Pordoi has been the Cima Coppi thirteen times and the Marmolada (Passo Fedaia) is one of the hardest and most scenic climbs in the region.

Ride distance: 40 or 60 miles Overnight: San Cassiano/Hotel Spa Rosa Alpina

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Stage 20 of the 2013 Giro d’Italia crowned Sicilian Vincenzo Nibali champion as he fought through miserable conditions to win atop Tre Cime Lavaredo, the fifth time the “Three Tops of Lavaredo welcomed a stage finish of Italy’s grand tour. Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx and Gianni Motta battled for victory in the inaugural ascent in 1967, while Merckx won in ’68, Jose Manuel Fuentes in ’74 and Beat Breau in ’81.

Ride distance: 65 miles Overnight: San Cassiano/Hotel Spa Rosa Alpina

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Multiple options are available today. For full trip participants, our ride climbs the Passo Gardena on our way to the capital of the Alto-Adige, Bolzano. You can choose a day off the bike to tour the city, including a visit to see Otzi the Iceman, a 5,000 year old preserved mummy. Today is also available as a departure day for our Dolomites East trip or arrival day for our Dolomites West itinerary.

Ride distance: 45 miles. Overnight: Bolzano/Hotel Greif

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The Passo Stelvio is synonymous with the Dolomites, its 48 hairpins counting down to the impressive 2, 757 meter top. Often shrouded in clouds, the road was built by the Austrian Empire and remains an engineering marvel. The cancellation of the crossing of the Stelvio on stage 18 in the 1984 Giro d’Italia remains one of the most controversial in history, handing Francesco Moser overall victory in a race he surely would have lost to second place finisher Laurent Fignon on the mighty Stelvio.

Ride distance: 30 or 60 miles. Overnight: Bolzano/Hotel Greif

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The Passo Mendola is 15 kilometers long and rises above the Merano Valley, offering a stunning perspective of the fertile valley below. Gino Bartali was unlikely to be thinking the same as he powered over the pass enroute to victory in Gardone Riviera and the overall title in the 1937 Giro d’Italia. For those on our full Dolomites East meets West itinerary, this may be the perfect time for a recovery day. Dinner tonight is with local Chef extraordinaire Herbert Hintner.

Ride distance: 30 or 50 miles. Overnight: Bolzano/Hotel Greif

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No adventure into the Dolomites is complete with an ascent of the Passo di Gavia, one of the most grueling passes in all of northern Italy. We won’t go gently into the end of our trip, as we first ascend the Passo Tonale. The Gavia tops out at an impressive 2621 meters, following 17.3 kilometers and was made famous during the snowstorm of the 1988 Giro d’Italia which saw Erik Breukink win the stage and give the U.S. its only overall victory.

Ride distance: 35 or 60 miles. Overnight: Bolzano/Hotel Greif

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Tired or fit, surely there’s plenty of satisfaction following this trip. A greater sense of what these mountains entail, and the legends they’ve created has been gained and its time for the next great mountain journey- perhaps the Austrian Alps next? We’ll get you wherever you need to go this morning for your trip home. Arrivederci!