Alta Badia: Your Next Cycling Holiday Destination?

Why the Alta Badia region in the heart of the Dolomites could be an unbeatable holiday location for you and your family.

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Planning a holiday that can truly satisfy we ardent cyclists as well as our partners and families can be a real test of our organisational skills and imagination. Compromise is a term we quickly become familiar with, and with it, the dream of a holiday destination that can keep everyone happy seems to ride off into the distance like Thomas de Gendt on a winning escape.

However, if there’s one location that might be purpose-built for the task, it’s the Alta Badia region in the Italian Dolomites. Here’s why.

Epic climbs and roads

The Alta Badia region is home to some of the most challenging mountain passes that have made cycling history: the Passo Pordoi, host of battles involving Giro d’Italia legends Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, and the impressive Fedaia (15km, gaining 1,010m at an average of 7.5 per cent with peaks of 12 per cent) at the foot of the Marmolada.

The Giau features characteristic gruelling hairpin turns in its 10km length at an average of 9.1 per cent, and Le Erbe peaks at over 2,000m in height at the end of its 32km, 9.2 per cent average gradient course. The peaks are all Grand Tour-quality with varying levels of difficulty, and allow you to put on your best Chris Froome or Simon Yates impression while following in their wheel tracks.