Description
The meeting point for this stage is the stunning city of Barcelona. However, rather than cycle out of Barcelona among the heavy city traffic we shuttle you to the coast and the take up residence at our lovely first hotel overseeing the Mediterranean. From there we cycle up through Catalonia and over the Pyrenees mountain range. The crossing of the Pyrenees is obviously a tough undertaking but our route doesn't take in the highest peaks which makes this stage a relatively relaxed introduction to the stages ahead. We enter France through the lovely town of Ceret which was once home to Picasso before continuing through the beautiful French countryside of the Languedoc-Roussillon. Our first week ends in the Papal city of Avignon where we will enjoy a well-earned rest before heading into the Alps.
After a rest day in Avignon we head north in the footsteps of Hannibal on perhaps the most iconic leg of his journey ' Across the Alps. We won't have 39 war elephants to provide us support but we will have our support vehicles to lend us a hand if you need it. The second part of stage 1 provides opportunity to take on a number of iconic climbs ' Ventoux, Galibier, Alpe d'Huez, Agnel and Izoard among others ' as we ride from France into Italy. Our gateway into Italy is via Col Agnel (Colle Agnello to the Italians) which takes us into the lovely region of Piedmont and the vine clad hills of the Langhe and Monferrato. We'll follow in the tyre tracks of the greatest Italian cyclist of them all ' Fausto Coppi ' on our way to the gastronomic hub of Alba that provides a fitting end to this classic stage.