King of the Mountains Giro

Our epic Giro d’Italia route covers some truly amazing cols including Monte Zoncolan and an incredible finish at the Madonna del Ghisallo chapel, home of the Patron Saint of Cycling, sitting high above Lake Como.

The King of the Mountains Giro pits riders against the biggest and best mountains of the Giro d’Italia, across 780km, 19 cols, 22,000m of elevation gain and six incredible stages, highlighted by the legendary Giau, Pordoi, Campolongo, Zoncolan, Stelvio, Gavia and Mortirolo, amongst many others. Launched in 2015 and updated in 2017 and 2019, the King of the Mountains Giro sits alongside our extremely popular King of the Mountains TdF, as the pinnacle of amateur cycling, allowing riders to tackle the most famous climbs from the most famous grand tours, with the full back up and support of the Le Domestique Tours team.

The Giro d’Italia has an illustrious reputation as the Grand Tour of the climbers due to its unrivalled focus on the highest passes of Europe. Bringing together the mountains of the Dolomites and Italian Alps, the Giro’s history is littered with daring tales of heroic riding, aggressive attacks and stages that have brought the toughest riders in the history of cycling to their knees.

The King of the Mountains Giro is a truly epic experience offering an unrivalled opportunity to challenge yourself against the Giro d’Italia’s most famous climbs. All with our first class support and half board accommodation at our hand selected 3 and 4* hotels.

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Dates & Prices

13 - 20 June 2020 7 Nights £1699pp - £700 Deposit BOOK NOW
13 - 20 June 2020 7 Nights £2099pp - £800 Deposit BOOK NOW
Private Groups Dates Throughout 2020 From £1699pp BOOK NOW

Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrive into Venice Marco Polo Airport - Transfer to Tolmezzo

After meeting with your LDT guides at Venice Marco Polo, we will transfer 90 minutes to Tolmezzo our first night's location. On arrival riders can have a late lunch, build their bikes and take part in an optional warm up ride.

Day 2 - Tolmezzo to Cortina d’Ampezzo - 151km - 5400m

This is an epic day which includes the Sella Valcalda, Sella Ciampigotto and Passo Tre Croci highlighted by the Giro’s toughest climb Monte Zoncolan. The Zoncolan is without a doubt the toughest climb used in the Giro, witnessing some truly incredible efforts.

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Day 3 - Cortina d'Ampezzo to Corvara - 117km - 4400m

The Giau, Falzarego Fedaia, Pordoi and Campolongo makes another epic Giro d’Italia inspired stage which brings us into the heart of the Dolomites with the Fedaia in particular being a seriously tough climb. While the Pordoi and Campolongo are tackled in the opposite direction to the following day giving you the chance to climb both sides of these amazing Giro climbs.

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Day 4 - Maratona dles Dolomites - 135km - 4600m

Today we tackle a stunning figure of eight loop made famous by the Maratona dles Dolomites sportive, but tackled without the crowds, meaning we have the most famous roads in the Dolomites, the Passo Campolongo (1875m), Passo Pordoi (2239m), Passo Sella (2244m), Passo Gardena (2121m), Passo Giau (2236m) and Passo Valparola (2200m) almost to ourselves.

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Day 5 - Double Stelvio - Finish Bormio - 95km - 4500m

Today needs no introduction, with a double ascent of one the most iconic roads in the world, the Stelvio Pass (2758m). Following a short transfer to Silandro Schlanders fifteen kilometres from the base of the Stelvio, we first tackle the 48 hairpins of the 24.3km at 7.4% Prato ascent, before dropping down the incredible descent to Bormio, where we turn around and tackle the equally incredible 21.5km at 7.1% Bormio ascent. On completion we descend back to Bormio and our base for the night.

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Day 6 - Mortirolo and Gavia

The Mortirolo needs no introduction as one of the Italian Alps' toughest climbs and today you will have the chance to ascend it as you ride past the famous Pantini memorial and "enjoy" the 10% average gradient over the climbs 12km. From here we drop down the eastern side of the Mortirolo and climb back to the stunning summit of Gavia, for one of the world's greatest loops. Or of course you could try all three ascents of the Mortirolo...

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Day 7 - Sondrio to Madonna del Ghisallo 158km 2400m

This is a stage we’re particularly proud of with riders able to join Lake Como and complete half a lap of this stunning lake before we tackle one of cycling’s absolute gems, the climb to the Madonna del Ghisallo chapel (the patron saint of cycling, the chapel is situated 800m above Como and is packed full of cycling memorabilia) and cycling museum where the tour concludes.

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Day 8 - Transfer to Milan Malpensa

After a final morning on Lake Como, we have a short transfer to Milan Malpensa airport for the late morning/early afternoon flights home.

FAQ

  • What's Included?
    • Airport transfers from Venice Marco Polo airport on a mid morning arrival with our transfer service leaving the airport at approximately 12.30pm to the start line. And from the finish to Milan Malpensa airport based on an early afternoon departure, with the transfer arriving at the airport at approximately 11am.
    • Seven night’s accommodation in best in class Alpine hotels on a twin share basis.
    • Six three course dinners and six breakfasts supplemented with LDT’s special blend of porridge, designed by our in-house professional chef.
    • Fully guided and pro level supported riding on all days from two vehicles (for groups of nine plus) driven by specialist LDT guides, who provide mechanical support and assistance, supplies of on the bike snacks, water top ups and coca cola.
    • A digital album of stunning photography to document your KoM journey.
    • Full Package Travel Regulations compliant financial failure insurance coverage which protects the funds paid by you to Le Domestique Tours, ensuring peace of mind when booking with us.
    What's Not Included?
    • Lunches.
    • Alcohol.
    • Breakfast on the final morning.
    • Dinner on the final night.
    • Flights.
    • Incidental expenses/purchases.
    Kit
    • The mountains can be extremely fickle and it is therefore difficult to predict the weather on any tour. Please therefore ensure you have a mix of kit to cover hot through to cold, along with wet weather. A definite must for packing is obviously a wind/waterproof gilet or jacket and full finger gloves, which are a good idea for the descents and mornings. Arm and knee warmers are also great as they are easy to adjust on the fly and help us keep things moving on the road. We also recommend that you bring your full wet weather kit in case we encounter any particularly poor weather.
    • We recommend that riders bring enough kit to cover the duration of their tour. Due to the nature of the KoM routes and the daily schedule, it is not possible to provide a nightly laundry service, so while riders can hand wash kit in their rooms at night, we recommend packing at least three sets of kit to ensure you can cope with any wet weather days.
    • We have a tool kit with us which contains the usual allen keys, pedal spanners, chain whips, cassette tools, chain splitter, track pump etc etc which guests are welcome to use throughout the tour. If you have any unusual bits on your bike such as proprietary bottom brackets or older/Campag group sets then you may want to bring your own specific tools as we can’t guarantee that we will have the correct tool in case of disaster. Due to their fragility we are unable to provide a torque wrench and therefore recommend that you bring your own if you require one for assembling your bike.
    • We recommend that you carry at least one spare inner tube along with a mini pump/co2 and a multitool with you at all times as a minimum so that if you do suffer a mechanical we can quickly take care of it. We have supplies of threaded Co2 canisters which you are welcome to borrow for the duration of the tour and either return unused, or if you do have to use them we charge £2 per canister.
    • The KoM route takes us through several poorly lit tunnels, which require all bikes to be fitted with front and rear lights and we also regularly encounter low visibility due to low cloud or fog, so please ensure that you have both front and rear lights with you for use in these circumstances (simple LED commuting lights are sufficient). Failure to carry lights can result in a fine from the police and also risks drivers not seeing you, so please do not forget to bring/use them.
  • Supported Riding
    • One of the main benefits of choosing Le Domestique Tours, is our pro-level supported riding service, which is an integral part of all of our packages. However, unless you have ridden with us before, it can be difficult to understand the benefits of this service, so for more information please follow this link – What is Supported Riding?
    • We do not enforce an average speed requirement during our tours and will always strive to allow riders to cycle at their own speed (our two van support policy gives us the ability to provide our incredible supported riding service for 99% of the riders on our tours), however if there is a large speed differential between you and the rest of the group, we may require you to depart earlier/later, miss extended stops or in very extreme circumstances, complete sections of the route in the LDT support van. Equally, if you are an extremely fast rider in comparison to the others in your group, or someone who does not like to stop during the course of your riding, we may have to adapt the level of support that we can provide for you. If you are at all concerned about your ability level (whether quicker or steadier than average) prior to signing up to this tour, please contact us in advance of booking and we will provide further guidance.
    Fitness and Gearing
    • The King of the Mountains challenges are our top end offering, catering to riders that are comfortable with long days in the saddle tackling some of the most beautiful, yet challenging mountains from cycling history. As a result we always recommend that riders ensure they are comfortable riding the distance required on each day on a back to back basis and have experience of riding in the high mountains, prior to the start of the tour.
    • Further guidance on training for your King of the Mountains can be found on our Training blog pages, while we also offer a full range of bespoke coaching options through Le Domestique Training.
    • While some riders do tackle the King of the Mountains on a standard double chainset (53/39), we generally recommend that riders opt for a compact chainset (50/34), accompanied by a 27T or 28T rear cassette. This gives a good spread of gears to cover most eventualities and ensures that you have a low enough gear to keep the pedals turning. Some riders do utilise triple chainsets, however in many circumstances this does not provide a lower gear than the ratios suggested above.
    King of the Mountains Ascents
    • The Stelvio and Mortirolo are the backbone climbs of the King of the Mountains Giro so we have honoured their illustrious Giro d’Italia history, together with the Madone’s unique place in cycling, by using each for our competitive King of the Mountains Ascents as follows.
    • Stelvio – this ability weighted timed ascent of Italy’s most famous Pass is able to be won by all riders, with the rider who has the fastest ascent once we have applied a weighting formula based on their Day 1 performance receiving a coveted Stelvio Borne.
    • Mortirolo – awarded to the fastest overall completion of the Cingles du Mortirolo, this award adds an extra level of challenge for those who are confident that they can conquer the Mortirolo with ease.
    • Madone – panache is a much used word in cycling and our final King of the Mountains Borne is awarded to the rider that the LDT team feels has demonstrated the most panache during their ascent, whether that be a gutsy but ultimately doomed attack, a superb on the mountain performance, playing Domestique to their struggling companion or something else entirely  go big or go home!
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