Small group. Pretty much everybody in the tour biz these days claims to have "small groups" but they rarely define the size of theirs. Ours will be no more than 7 guests + Heather and Larry, meaning 9 in total. One nine-passenger van with our bikes on the roof. That's all.
What does this small group offer to you? Personal service of course with a staff to client ratio that's tough-to-beat. Flexibility too. With a group this size we can react to changes in weather or other situations quickly. It also offers an up-close relationship to the race. For example, we've found a tiny lodging within riding distance of the base of the Zoncolan climb, a place with just 5 rooms total and we've reserved most of them! Nobody can offer lodging closer than this, especially operations with large groups who will likely be forced to say in large towns many kilometers from the action.
Real meals featuring the specialties of the region including local wines. The chefs in the kitchens of our lodging partners delight in showing off their favorite local dishes and with a group of no more than 9 diners, they can do special things large groups simply prevent.
Campagnolo factory-tour. As you can see above, we recently visited Campagnolo in Vicenza, trying to confirm a factory tour on our way to Levico Terme. International press wizard Joshua Riddle met with us, and indicated they would love to show us around, but can not commit until early next year. If they can host us, we'll be there. If not we'll just have more time to ride on the Altopiano Asiago on our way to Levico. Our lodging here is, like with Zoncolan, as close as possible to the finish line atop Panarotto, giving you the option of merely walking outside to see the race pass if you choose.
HQ in the gorgeous Monferrato wine country. We could set things up with a hotel closer to the race, but anyone who has been there knows Hotel Ariotto is a great place to start and end a CycleItalia tour. And in the end, the difference in driving time is rather small, probably less than the time you'd take making an airline connection from a larger international airport to a place like Verona or Venezia.
Unlike some of our larger competitors, we won't be having viewing tents set up along the course with TV coverage or special credentials to get you past barriers to the general public - but you WILL get our 25 years of experience following the Giro and Tour, getting as close to the action as possible so you can experience first-hand the atmosphere of La Corsa Rosa, all at a very reasonable price of $3495.
Don't forget all you need is a roundtrip airplane ticket to Milan's Malpensa airport. We'll cover the distance to meet up with the race in our support van, bringing you back to the same place you started so you can leave anything not needed at our HQ hotel and avoid any complicated air itineraries due to flying into one airport and out of another. No matter how you arrange it, following a race of this magnitude, one that covers these distances each day, requires some van transfer time, so plan to see the race up-close and personal while fitting in some cycling on the course when the situation allows it.
Those who joined us in 2013 enjoyed the experience and can always say, "I was there". Why not make 2014 YOUR year?
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