Archive for the ‘Giro’ Category
|2010 Veneto Cycling Events – More and More!
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
We already knew that 2010 was going to be huge with the Giro passing right through Castelcucco, finishing a stage in Asolo, and finishing with a TT in Verona, but each week sees more events piling on!
Starting on June 19 (with amateur events) and wrapping up on June 27 (with the Men’s Pro race), the Italian National Championships will be in our backyard at Conegliano.
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The main climb of the course, the Ca’ del Poggio, is basically at the far end of the Canal Ride, and we’ll surely make a detour to see exactly what it’s like for ourselves. Pat found video from the 2009 Giro that shows it may be short, but it’s not easy – especially 11 times like they’ll do in June.
And now, the Giro d’Italia Femminile (Giro Donne), will also have two stages in our backyard this July. The second stage from Sacile finishes 15kms away in Riese Pio X on July 3. The next day is a 17km TT starting in Caerano San Marco, heading up to Cornuda, and finishing back in Biadene.
2010 Giro d'Italia Femminile - Stage 3 TT
And this is all, of course, in addition to the usual events, like UDACE racing, and the Gran Fondo Damiano Cunego on June 6, the Gran Fondo dei 7 Comuni Rigoni di Asiago on June 13, the Gran Fondo Sportful (Campagnolo) on June 20, Sella Ronda Bike Day on June 27, the Gran Fondo Monte Grappa on July 4, and of course la Pinarello (Gran Fondo Pinarello) on July 18.
Ci vediamo presto!!
Staying in Castelcucco
Monday, December 21st, 2009
We’ve just got off the phone with the Hotel Monte Grappa, and it sounds like a congratulations is in order for Luca Bolzon and family. It appears that business at Hotel Monte Grappa will be booming in 2010, and they will often be full up! Velo Veneto will no longer have full run of the place, but as always, he has found ways to accommodate us. So, what does this mean for us?
- We will have access to what we’re calling Villa II – the Bolzon family home just behind the Hotel Monte Grappa. For everyone, this means a secure place to leave your bike and bike case, a laundry facility, and where we will have the rack, workstand, and a small toolset. It also means that at particularly busy times, we will have access to bedrooms in Villa II!
- Luca has asked that we give him rooming lists as early as possible this year, so he can make sure that everybody has a bed, and every bed has a body. For the Giro trip, this means we’d like to have our list to him by the end of January. You can put your name and dates in on our Registration page, and we’re finally taking PayPal deposits.
We’re happy and excited for Luca, and the more we plan for and talk about next year, the more excited we get about heading back! If you have any thoughts, or suggestions, leave a comment below or give us a shout.
2010 Giro d’Italia Itinerary
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
We’re very excited to announce our itinerary for the Giro d’Italia trip this coming May. That sounds like a long way away, but it’ll be here before we know it! In addition to the great viewing opportunities of the Giro, we’ll also be enjoying the fantastic riding around the Veneto throughout the week and a grand farewell dinner after the Verona TT. We have 8 spots only available for this trip, so make your reservation now!
Friday, May 21 – Rider Arrival (early morning arrivals will spend the day in Venice while Velo Veneto looks after your bags)
Saturday, May 22 – Stage 14 of the Giro offers a taste of the Dolomites with our own Monte Grappa, and we’ll be there to sample it. After watching the pros suffer up the mountain, we’ll backtrack to Asolo in time to watch the finish.
Sunday, May 23 – The real Dolomites start today, and we’ll be there to witness it. Our morning begins with a drive north into the mountains, and then we spin out on our own ride finishing on the Giro’s final climb of the day, the Zoncolan!
Monday, May 24 – Rest day for the Giro, but we’ll be enjoying the beautiful Prosecco Vineyards ride from our own front door.
Tuesday, May 25 – With a couple of days to gather the data, we’ll know the pro’s times up the Monte Grappa, and today we’ll test ourselves against those times with a TT up the Monte Grappa. After you’ve wrung yourself out, we’ll gather around the common room TV to watch the Giro’s uphill Plan de Corones TT.
Wednesday, May 26 – Having done a fair bit of climbing the past few days, we’ll head south onto the Padovana plain to Castelfranco, stopping at Alessandro Ballan’s local bike shop and pausing in the main piazza for a cappuccino or espresso.
Thursday, May 27 – Hosting the world championships twice since 1985, the Montello is one of the local famed training loops. We’ll head out through the vineyards to tackle the same roads that saw Joop Zoetemelk win a road world championships and Jan Ullrich win a TT crown.
Friday, May 28 – Back into the hills for us today with our own Alpe d’Huez, the 21-hairpin climb of Foza up to the Asiago plateau. A quick traverse leads us to a sweeping descent into the Brenta River valley and back to Castelcucco in time for more Giro coverage!
Saturday, May 29 – Rider’s Choice! One group will head back into the hills, while the other will take a flatter ride. Either way, we’ll be back in time to rejoin in the common room to watch the Giro’s queen stage, including the famous Passo Gavia!
Sunday, May 30 – This morning we’ll head down the road to Verona, site of yet another Oscar Friere World Championships win and the Giro’s culminating TT. We’ll be there early enough to pre-ride the course itself, and wander through the start area as the riders warm-up. Those who want can stay in town to watch the start/finish and/or go sightseeing, while a second group will head out onto the course’s climb, the Torricelle. We will wrap up this great trip with a farewell dinner in a local restaurant.
Monday, May 31 – Sadly, it’s time to return to real life… But the Giro will return to the Veneto again soon!
For more information about Velo Veneto trips, including this Giro d’Italia itinerary, please visit our Reservations page.
2010 Giro d’Italia
Saturday, October 24th, 2009
Wow, the 2010 Giro d’Italia passes right through our backyard and finishes just down the road with a TT in Verona! Stage 14 will cover many of the roads we regularly ride, finishing a few minutes away in Asolo, and passing near Castelcucco on its way up and over the Monte Grappa. Whether you’re there in May, or come later in the summer, it’s going to be great fun riding on the same roads day-in and day-out. The overall map of il Giro is below (click to download as PDF), or you can visit the English-language website.
The route map of the 2010 Giro d'Italia
Italia calling
Monday, June 15th, 2009
Ciao Tutti … only four weeks to go until camp opens in Castelcucco. I got chills down my spine watching the Giro this year when they finished in Valdobiaddane. Great win for Petacchi. Those are the roads we ride so frequently at Velo Veneto.
If you haven’t seen this on PezCycling News (Top Rides: The Sella Ring) check it out ! We’ll be riding that same loop a couple of times this summer.
