**New 2010 Trip Addition***

The 2010 Giro's stage 7 will cover some of the same strada bianca as the Montepaschi Stradi Bianche Toscana race.  Enjoy a week of riding in the beautiful rolling Tuscan countryside. 

Our 2nd tour for 2010 is planned for May 13th through 17th and will include watching stage 7. What will make this stage infamous are the 2 10km-long stretches of Stada Bianche, the famous white gravel roads that traverse the region.    Our tour will be based out of a gorgeous villa in the heart of Tuscany's Cianti wine region.  This area provides amazing riding offering both hilly and flatter routes, as well as the Stada Bianche that criss cross the area.  Aside from the great cycling, we will tour local castles, participate in wine & olive oil tastings at neighboring wineries, take part in authentic tuscan cooking classes and so much more.   For example, Castel Brolio dates back to the early 12th century and is still a residence for the Ricasoli family and home to their winery.   We will also do a wine tasting tour of the Volpaia Winery in nearby Radda in Chianti.  This medival village and winery dates back to the year 1172 and is an amazing example of old wine-making tradition utilizing some surprising modern day technologies.

Bella Vita Vacations tours are all custom-tailored to our clients needs for the ultimate Italian cycling vacation.  We offer complete all-inclusive packages with aiport pick-up/drop-off, transportation to all site-seeing events, accomodations, and food (breakfasts and dinners).  Professional mechanics on staff to assist as needed.   Our tour packages are designed to offer unique cycling and site-seeing experiences in Italy without the stress of doing everything yourself. 

Our first tour is planned for March 1st through 8th and will include watching the 1-day classic Montepaschi Stradi Bianche Toscana (formerly Monte Paschi Eroica).  This is an amazing race that covers 190km of beautiful Tuscan countryside.  What makes this race famous are the 57km contested over the Stada Bianche, the famous white gravel roads that traverse the region.  The race also has a unique finish in Siena's Piazza del Campo.  Siena also offers fantastic shopping and site-seeing opportunies.  For a real shopping experience, the Prada Outlet store in nearby Montavarchi is a must.   Our tour will be based out of a gorgeous villa in the heart of Tuscany's Cianti wine region.  This area provides amazing riding offering both hilly and flatter routes, as well as the Stada Bianche that criss cross the area.  Aside from the great cycling, we will tour local castles, participate in wine & olive oil tastings at neighboring wineries, take part in authentic tuscan cooking classes and so much more.   For example, Castel Brolio dates back to the early 12th century and is still a residence for the Ricasoli family and home to their winery.   We will also do a wine tasting tour of the Volpaia Winery in nearby Radda in Chianti.  This medival village and winery dates back to the year 1172 and is an amazing example of old wine-making tradition utilizing some surprising modern day technologies.

Our 2nd trip for 2010 will be in October to coincide with the L'Eroica, the period cyclotouristic rally for which the pro 1-day race Montepaschi Stradi Bianche Toscana was modeled after.  Truly a unique event that takes a step back in time to the heroic early days of cycling. Amazing atmosphere and camaraderie. This tour will also be based out of a fantastic Tuscan Villa in the Chianti region and will include a tour of Castel Brolio, wine & olive oil tasting tours of the Ricasoli and Volpaia wineries, and much more.  An optional 2nd week will include watching the Giro di Lombardia which is the weekend after L'Eroica and some fantastic riding days in the picturesque Dolomites.

Bella Vita Vacations tours are all custom-tailored to our clients needs for the ultimate Italian cycling vacation.  We offer complete all-inclusive packages with aiport pick-up/drop-off, transportation to all site-seeing events, accomodations, and food (breakfasts and dinners).  Professional mechanics on staff to assist as needed.   Our tour packages are designed to offer unique cycling and site-seeing experiences in Italy without the stress of doing everything yourself. 

Contact us now if you're interested! We will book up fast for these events!

Things have been extemely busy since we got back from Italy, so we're a little late posting about our trip.  We had an amazing time and met some amazing people.   The weather was unseasonably warm for most of the trip and it was clear and sunny almost everyday.

Brian Roberts from Goodyear, Arizona joined Kristine and I for the entire trip.  Our first week included a few days in Abruzzo riding the lower slopes of the Appenine Mountains.  The warm weather and clear blue skies followed us up into Tuscany for a few day, where we spent a day in Sienna, toured the Volpaia Winery, went to Brolio Castle and stopped for some wine tasting at the Ricasoli Winery.  Brolio Castle is almost perfectly preserved and is still a full-time residence. 

For the second leg of the trip, we headed back to Abruzzo and picked up Scott and Katharine Elliot in Rome on the way.   While in Abruzzo, we went to watch stage 17 of the race.  That stage finishes with a monster climb and we arrived early enough to pick a great spot to camp out in the small village of Pretoro, where the climb really kicks upward, then ride those those last 15kms to the stage finish.  I did manage to ride the additional 5 kms beyond the finish to the actual Blockhaus summit, which rough roads and lingering snow kept the stage from going all the way up.   There was just enough time to ride back down before the road closed and we watched the approaching helicopters and race caravan come through.  The riders eventually came by more-or-less groupo compacto.  Di Luca was the regional favorite but Menchov stayed glued to his wheel all the way up.  Pellizotti snuck away early in the climb and stayed clear for the win.  Di Luca attacked repeatedly but never could shake Menchov until the final 100 meters.   Armstrong put in a solid effort to chase down Pellizoti but never could make up much ground and finished well off.   Once the race came through, we headed back to Roio for a quite dinner.  The last fews days of the trip was spent in Rome.  We spent one very-full day doing the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and a quick trip over to see the Vatican.  Our apartment for the weekend was right on the Piazza Navona and was amazing.  The final day of the trip was spent watching the final time trial though the streets of Rome.  We had a perfect spot right at the start chute.  Once the last riders went off, we walked across the piazza to catch them coming back into the final couple km's .   Some light rain had been falling off and on for the last 20 riders going off, but Menchov had the worst of it since he was last. After Menchov flew past us, apparently he fell in the last km only to recover quickly and take the Maglia Rosa home.

All in all, we had a fantastic time. Two weeks filled with riding the Italian countryside - Abruzzo mountains, 'Strade Bianche', and along the shoreline of the Adriatic - lots of wonderful site seeing, good food and most importantly, we had great company. It was great to spend our travels with our new friends Brian (Harv), Scott and Katharine. Grazie tutti!

Only 2 weeks till we'll be riding the Abruzzo country side.   After a few days in Roio del Sangro, we will head up into Tuscany for a few days that the molto bella Villa di Sotto. This bed & breakfast is located just east of Sienna in the small village of Villa di Sesta.  We will cruise some of the white gravel roads used in March's Montepaschi Strade Bianche - Eroica Tosana 1-day race.   These roads go for miles and are very well marked and easy to follow.  There are also some amazing climbs very close by.  We might even see some wild cinghiale, as they roam the surrounding foothills.  We will spend an afternoon sampling some of the local vineyards finest chianti classico.   We will also spend an afternoon in Siena, as well as San Gimignano and Montepulciano.  After Tuscany, our trip will head back down to our home in Abruzzo to catch 2 of the Giro's toughest stages in the final week.  Stage 17 might only be 80kms, but it's all uphill.  Starting in Chieti, it heads east to the Adriatic Coast in Pescara before heading back inland and upward down the famous dead-end climb to the Blockhaus summit at over 2000 meters.  They have just recently moved the finish from the very top, down about 4kms to Passo Lanciano. Where Ivan Basso won a few years ago.  Never-the-less, those last 4kms will be open to cyclists willing to test the steep grade and thin air.  The following days stage leaves Sulmona and makes a quick climb up to Roccaraso before make a flat run into Benevento.  We will ride over and catch the action in the town of Rionero Sannitico.  There is a sharp, steep climb right here that might lauch a winning move.   The following day we will head into Rome for some sight seeing before the final individual time trial through the cobbled streets and around some of the worlds most famous landmarks, such as the Coliseum.  

Just a quick update regarding the earthquake in Abruzzo. We believe our house to be okay as we are 70 miles away.

If you would like help those effected by the earthquake, please visit NIAF.org. 100% of all proceeds go directly to the victims of this disaster.

Preghiere per tutti a L'Aquila e tutti d'Abruzzo. Prayers to all in L'Aquila and all of Abruzzo.