Our Giro d’Italia cycling tour starts in just 15 weeks.
Are you ready to dive in, turn up the volume and enjoy an immersive experience at the Giro?
‘Is there enough time?’ we hear you ask.………Absolutely!
Here we outline an approach to take your existing base level today to being ready to tackle some of Italy’s mythical mountain passes including Passo dello Stelvio, Sella Ronda & Monte Grappa in 15 weeks.
The significant difference with being adequately prepared before your departure is two fold:
1. When you know you “have done the work”, there is no anxiety around what to expect, or questions of ‘can I do it’ or ‘will I keep up’?
2. Your body becomes accustomed to the training and is better prepared for the back to back days in the mountains. This leads to less fatigue on the bike and more energy to enjoy the other elements of the tour, off the bike.
In our program below, we break-up the next 15 weeks into 5 training blocks of 3 weeks, and offer some suggestions on what to do and how best dial up your time in the saddle pre departure.
Before we get into our suggested training guide here are some high level statistics to put the tour and days on the bike into perspective.
Average daily Kilometres – 63.41km
Average Daily m of elevation – 1704.25m
Longest day – Day 6 @ 83km
Day with the most elevation – Day 5 – 2424m
Days with least distance, but most elevation – Day 8 – Distance: 67.4km & Elevation: 2252m
Days we cross paths with the Giro; Day 2 with a mountain top finish in Livigno, Day 4 watching from the top of Stelvio as the peloton races up and over, Day 5 at a stage start in the Dolomites and/or over Sella Ronda, and finally day 8 on Monte Grappa, and also at the finish in Bassano del Grappa
Passes we climb; Cancano, Livigno, Gavia, Stelvio, Sella Ronda (inc Sella, Pordoi, Campolongo & Gardena), San Boldo, Monte Grappa
Training Block 1 – starts now and will run until 22nd February
This block is about committing to some consistency with your riding frequency. By the end of this block, you ideally need to be completing the following as a minimum:
Km per week – 250km
Elevation per week – 2000m
Days of riding per week – 3
Days riding back to back – 2
Training Block 2 – from February 23rd until March 14th
This block is about adding distance and adding to the amount of time you spend in the saddle. By the end of this block, you ideally need to be completing the following as a minimum:
Km per week – 350km
Elevation per week – 2500m
Days of riding per week – 4
Days riding back to back – 2
Training Block 3 – from March 15th until April 4th
This block is about adding more elevation. By the end of this block, you ideally need to be completing the following as a minimum:
Km per week – 400km
Elevation per week – 3500m
Days of riding per week – 4
Days riding back to back – 3
Training Block 4 – is from April 3rd until April 25th
This block is also about adding more elevation to your rides. By the end of this block, you ideally need to be completing the following as a minimum:
Km per week – 400km
Elevation per week – 4500m
Days of riding per week – 4
Days riding back to back – 3
Training Block 5 – is from April 26th until your departure.
This block is also about adding more elevation to your rides. By the end of this block, you ideally need to be completing the following as a minimum:
Km per week – 400km
Elevation per week – 6000m
Days of riding per week – 4-5
Days riding back to back – 3
Mirror your training rides to the rides on the Giro Tour
Knowing what to expect on the road is also great for your confidence. Below is a list of the Giro tour’s daily distances and elevations.
Day 1. Distance: 36.3km & Elevation: 1074m
Day 2. Distance: 65.6km & Elevation: 1874m
Day 3. Distance: 50km & Elevation: 1523m
Day 4. Distance: 47.8km & Elevation: 1592m
Day 5. Distance: 78.7km & Elevation: 2424m
Day 6. Distance: 83km & Elevation: 1312m
Day 7. Distance: 77.6km & Elevation: 1584m
Day 8 Distance: 67.4km & Elevation: 2252m
We suggest that you pick two or three of the days on tour, the longest day and then the day with the most elevation and least km’s, so days #6 & #8, and then find a couple of loops in your local area that mirror the same characteristics. Once you are regularly riding these, you’ll notice that it is not only good for the legs and fitness, but also for the mind; knowing that you can actually ride the hardest days on tour.
Use an Indoor / Outdoor Mix in your training
We find that one of the most effective tools to best use the available time you have is to use an indoor trainer at home or in a group setting at a training studio. If at home, this will ensure that you can ride and add as much elevation into your training as you need to be ready. If it’s at a studio, the group environment and trainer will push you more than you would yourself. We have seen first hand guests who have only prepared for our Italian cycling tours on indoor trainers due to weather conditions at home pre tour, and they have arrived on tour in great condition and rode every hill with ease.
If you would like to receive a detailed Itinerary for this year’s Giro d’Italia tour and be part of achieving this amazing riding experience and personal goal for yourself click here.
We have also added a couple of testimonials from our 2023 Giro d”Italia tour, so you can see what others have had to say about a Giro experience with us.
The best experience – ever! Nancy and Damian from A’qto Cycling Tours are lovely people. Nothing was less than perfect on the recent 2023 Giro D’Italia tour. An excellent group of people, bikes were great, the riding was amazing, the food and wine better, and the scenery breathtaking. I loved every minute of it and will return for another A’qto Cycling tour, for sure.
Toby T
…..it was truly exceptional and your attention to detail, planning and general care of us all went above and beyond my expectations.
I found the climbs exceptionally difficult and there may have even been days where I muttered “FFS” in amongst the breathing and wheezing, but the sense of achievement in completing each one and the entire tour was amazing.
The location of the hotels made a huge difference, I loved being in the middle of the action with a bar and café at your doorstep. I wish I had more time to explore some of the locations, especially Bergamo which was a complete surprise. But you cant have everything as more time exploring would have meant less time on the bike and those amazing roads and views.
I also loved the food experience. It was different than I expected, especially in regard to the regional dishes, but this added to the experience.
You have a unique product which you should be very proud of.
Paul H
Just completed my fourth tour with A’qto so I think that speaks for itself. Each tour has been richly rewarding, with varied cycling and cultural experiences that reflect the diversity of Italy.
My latest was the 2023 Giro D’Italia tour and it was one of the best. The rides were beautifully curated to give us a mix of Giro experiences – a stage start, two stage finishes, mid-stage views and riding sections of the course ahead of the peloton, including some ‘bucket-list’ climbs – but just as importantly, each day was thoughtfully put together to provide a great day’s riding in its own right that I’d happily ride any time.
Accomodation and meals were thoughtfully chosen – for comfort and convenience but also to be reflective of the areas we were visiting. I’m glad I was riding every day so there was no need to hold back at dinner!
David D
I recently undertook the Giro Tour 2023 as a non riding partner and was thrilled with the variety of experiences and the fantastic support throughout the tour. Loved the mega 5 star ‘wine and dine’ experience every night as well. Being a regular hiker I found the forest and mountain trail walks perfect for me. Thank you Nancy!
Maria W
Stunning rides, challenging routes and great fun (mad) interactions with the Giro! We even rode with the Jumbo Visma team on their rest day when they were going up the same hill we were! They were nice lads and posed for our camera so we were their fans from them on! I had to keep pinching myself to believe I was riding these roads and seeing the magnificent scenery and getting so up close with the pros!
Damian and his support crew were fabulous, calm, considerate and fun!
My non riding partner had a fabulous time too! Hiking, tasting local produce and we all ate fabulous meals together!
Unforgettable and planning the next one once I calm down!
Thank you Damian and Nancy!
Paul G
