Day 1: Levico Terme to Lengstein
In the morning, after the official welcome and tour briefing at the beautiful Lago di Levico, the various cycling teams set off on the route. We cycle between the neighboring lakes Lago di Levico and Lago di Caldonazzo and quickly descend into the Adige Valley to Trento. With a short detour you can explore this nice city or take a short break. We first cycle a little further along the mountain slopes and then turn onto the enjoyable Etsch cycle path. We now follow this excellently bicycle route for most of the day until we reach Bolzano. The beautiful city center is ideal for an extended coffee stop. Behind Bolzano we head straight to the last highlight of the day. A very challenging climb of 800 meters to the Ritten plateau awaits us. After the arduous climb with many spectaculous view to the Dolomites and into the Eisack Valley, we finally reach our hotel in Klobenstein.
Track 2 turns off the Etsch cycle path at some point and follows the South Tyrolean wine route, which passes through well-known wine towns such as Tramin and Kaltern. Lake Kaltern could also offer a quick cool off. At Bolzano we get back to the regular track 1.
Route character: flat to hilly (Track 1 & 2)
Day 2: Lengstein to St. Vigil
We will stay for some while in the hills and later we have a breathtaking hairpin descent to Klausen in the valley. We now pedal steadily upstream through the narrow Eisack Valley on a cycling path. The city of Brixen would be a good place for a stopover, as the transition from Eisack to Puster Valley offers a short but sharp bump before we head back up the river at a more leisurely pace along the Rienz. We now mainly follow the Puster Valley cycle path before we leave the river at Ehrenburg and now cycle partially around the well-known Kronplatz mountain. The stage ends in St. Vigil right at the foot of the mountain.
The Würzjoch (Passo del Erbe) is for sure a highlight for track 2 today. Behind Brixen we turn into the mountains. And via Lüson it goes up to almost 2000 m to the Würzjoch. After a brisk descent, we travel through the Val Badia on the west side of Kronplatz in the opposite direction to track 1 and later reach the Puster Valley. We curcuit the Kronplatz clockwise and shortly before our destination in St. Vigil we cross the Furkel Pass.
Route character: hilly (Track 1), mountainous (Track 2)
Day 3: St. Vigil to Arabba
Today we almost completely circuit Kronplatz. First we cycle uphill to the Furkel Pass, which we reach quite quickly. At Olang we meet the Puster Valley again and head west to Bruneck with a beautiful city center. We continue to St. Lorenzen, where we leave the Puster Valley again and, as at the end of yesterday, cycle along the Gaderbach, but on a slightly higher road with less traffic. Shortly before St. Vigil we turn into Alta Badia and cycle steadily uphill to Corvara. Here, at the foot of the famous Sella massif, we start the climb to the Campolongo pass, which is easy to manage and takes us up to 1875 m. Now it goes a little bit downhill and soon we are in Arabba, our destination for today.
Today track 2 takes a completely different route than track 1. First we take the same route as yesterday, but in the opposite direction, over the Furkel Pass to Olang in the Puster Valley. We follow the valley cycle path for a while and at Toblach we turn into the Höllensteintal. Lake Dobbiaco is beautifully framed by mountains to our right and we continue to gain altitude. Behind the Dürrensee the gradient increases significantly and we reach Misurina, the pearl of the Dolomites, with a beautiful lake and incredible views of the surrounding mountain peaks. A little later we are already on the (short) climb to the Passo Tre Croci. Now we descent to Cortina d'Ampezzo and straight back up to the Falzarego Pass. Arabba is now not far and only a long descent and a small climb away.
Route character: mountainous (Track 1 & 2)
Day 4: Arabba to Cavalese
The start of the day is a nice downhill to Caprile, where we start the climb to Passo Fedaia. The following 13 kilometers are quite tough. The pass road is very unrhythmic and sometimes has steep parts. After a long, very straight section, we look forward to the final serpentines that take us to the top of the pass at 2057 m. We pass by the Fedaia reservoir and then we go down to Canazei, which is located at the foot of the Sella massif. If this route is too strenuous for you, you can also reach Canazei directly from Arabba via the Passo Pordoi with less kilometers and a bit less climb. We now reach the Fassa Valley and spend the rest of the day, mostly away from the valley road, always riding slightly down the valley on a cycle path to Cavalese in Val di Fiemme.
Track 2 also takes us over the Fedaia Pass and through the Fassa Valley. However, from Moena we make a loop over the Passo San Pellegrino and the Passo di Valles, which once again take us over 2000 m high into the mountains of the Dolomites. At Predazzo we reach track 1 again.
Route character: mountainous (Track 1 & 2)
Day 5: Cavalese to Levico Terme
We continue to clycle along the Fiemme Valley a long way down the valley to Nogaré. Here we turn north again and pass two lakes before turning into the road to Passo del Redebus. Although this pass is not as high as the previous ones, it still has some pretty steep sections. But behind the pass it goes quickly downhill into Valsugana. Finally, we cycle along Lake Levico with a wonderful view of the lake before reaching the tour destination in Levico Terme.
Today track 2 is largely different from track 1. Shortly after the start we turn into the road that will take us to the Passo del Manghen in the next 16.5 kilometers. At first it's fairly easy to cycle and with a 'pleasant' gradient, the road becomes increasingly narrower and steeper. After we have left the pass behind and descended into Val Sugana, we climb one last time to a much lower and less demanding pass, the Passo Forcella. In a wide loop we reach Val Sugana, which we pedal for 40 km and end the tour in Levico Terme.
Route character: very hilly (Track 1), mountainous (Track 2)