Difficulty - Medium / Hard International Tours Italian Classics - Stelvio & Dolomites

• 10 days, 9 nights across two bases: La Villa in the Alta Badia valley (5 nights), then Bormio in Lombardy (4 nights)
• Seven full ride days, including one easy coffee ride
• About 550 km and 10,000–12,000 vertical metres, graded Medium to Hard
• Groups of up to 10 riders, with ride and mechanical support and GPX routes for every day

We meet you at Milan Malpensa Airport and head north into the Alps. A few hours on the road, a few stops in small mountain towns, and peaks that get bigger with every kilometre. In La Villa we get the bikes ready and roll out for a short shakeout ride. Then it's the welcome dinner near our accommodation. Tomorrow the big climbs begin.

A classic Dolomites day. Today we Sella Ronda. You ride four summits (Gardena, Sella, Pordoi and Campolongo) in about 65 km. It's short on kilometres, long on views, and you'll sleep very well tonight. The Dolomites have decided many Giros, and today you ride the same roads. Our coffee stop is Arabba, in the South Tyrol, and Strudel is not optional.

Four very different climbs, including the HC climb of Passo Fedaia, which can be a bit of a brute. Out through Corvara and over Campolongo, down to Arabba, round to Caprile and up the Fedaia. Coffee in Canazei (the Strudel is good here too). Then Passo Sella, ridden the other way round from yesterday, and one last short climb over Gardena before the long descent home. Eat a big dinner tonight.

After two big days, an easier one. Roll out through the Alta Badia valley to one of the little towns for coffee and cake. Don't be fooled: it's still the Alps, so expect some climbing on the way home. If the legs feel good, Passo delle Erbe is the extra-credit ride.

Your last big day. Start with a long climb over Passo Valparola, then take the descent of Passo Falzarego and head for Passo Giau, another HC climb. It doesn't have the harsh gradients of the Fedaia, but it isn't to be trifled with. Listen for cuckoos on the way up. Coffee at the summit, an 8 km descent to Pocol, back over Falzarego and Valparola, then a run of switchbacks and sweeping roads back to La Villa.

A day to rest the legs and fill the eyes. We say goodbye to the Dolomites and drive west to the Bormio, stopping to stretch, grab coffee and have lunch. In Bormio the bikes come out again for a short spin before dinner.

You start climbing the Stelvio almost as soon as you leave town: 21 km of tunnels, switchbacks and, in a late season, snow walls up to 3 m high. You pass an Italian war memorial and ride within 3 km of the turn-off to Switzerland's Umbrail Pass. At the summit, the Giro's famous high point, you stand on the podium for the photo you've been picturing for years.

Feeling strong? If the weather is fine, try the Doppio Stelvio (for the strong, and some would say foolhardy). Drop to Prato for lunch, then climb it again from the other side, 48 switchbacks and a 100 km, 3000 m+ day.

Many pros don't enjoy the Mortirolo, and today you decide how hard to make it. We offer two options today, one that is reasonable challenging and one that is a bit harder!

From Mazzo di Valtellina the road averages over 10% for 12 km, with ramps touching 18%, up to a summit 1,300 m above where you started. Take the harder route the Giro uses, past the memorial to Marco Pantani. Or take the slightly longer route with a lower gradient and big views over the Valtellina valley. Either way, there's a coffee stop on the way home.

The Gavia is 26 km and 1,400 m of climbing at an average of 5.5%, which sounds gentle until hour two. It starts from our door, passes cobbled villages and Santa Caterina, then turns remote and wild on the way to a summit above 2,600 m. This is the climb where Andy Hampsten won a Giro stage through the snow in 1988. Expect snow or ice at the roadside. At the top there's a warm coffee at Rifugio Berni, then a long descent with views that will distract you.

One last breakfast, one last round of stories, then we take you back to Malpensa Airport for the next stage of your journey. You'll have ridden the Stelvio, the Mortirolo, the Gavia, the Sella Ronda, the Fedaia and Giau, and had some of the best food of your life. You'll be planning the next trip before you land.

We hope you have enjoyed your Italian Classics Tour and hope you will join us again on another of our amazing tours.

Ten days. Seven rides. The climbs you've watched on TV for years. Groups are limited to 10 riders, so pick your departure and use Book this Tour, or send us an enquiry with any questions. We'll answer them.