L'Eroica: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The course is one big loop, starting and finishing on the Piazza Ricasoli in Gaiole. The first serious climb arrives at kilometre 8.8, 1.7 kilometres at 6.7 percent, and from there the route heads south through the Chianti into the Val d'Arbia and on into the Crete Senesi. Of the 211 kilometres, roughly 104 are on unsealed white road and the rest on asphalt.

The day is decided in the middle. At kilometre 70 you reach the lowest point of the course at 143 metres, and immediately afterwards comes Monte Sante Marie: first 1.9 kilometres at 8.5 percent, then after a short break another 2.0 kilometres at 8 percent, both on loose gravel, both with ramps beyond 17 percent. After that the route runs through Buonconvento and across the Val d'Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2004.

This is the course L'Eroica exists because of: in 1997, 92 riders set off here in protest against plans to asphalt the gravel roads. What remains is six feed stations serving Tuscan food and wine instead of gels, and the passage past the torch-lit Castello di Brolio in the small hours. The profile gives nothing away at the end either: kilometre 178.5 brings another three kilometres at 5.5 percent, kilometre 198 two more, and the highest point of the whole loop, 559 metres, sits at kilometre 205, five kilometres from the finish.

Pacing Strategy

Fifteen hours cannot be raced tactically, they can only be rationed. The first 70 kilometres lose height on balance and feel effortless on fresh legs, which is exactly what makes them the day's biggest trap. Whatever you ride too fast in the dark between Gaiole and the Val d'Arbia is missing on Monte Sante Marie.

The decisive section runs from kilometre 70 to 76. The two ramps at 8.5 and 8 percent come straight out of the lowest point of the course, on loose gravel and with whatever gearing your pre-1988 bike gives you. Ride them at constant effort and seated wherever you can: getting out of the saddle costs you traction and forward motion at the same time on that surface.

The second mistake is how you ration food and light. Six feed stations across 210 kilometres means long stretches with no resupply, and the climbs at kilometre 178.5 and 198 land when your day is already twelve hours old. Plan for two spells of darkness, before sunrise and again in the evening, and for the spread between night and midday temperatures that an October day in Tuscany produces.

Training plan for L'Eroica: 12-week build

As an age-group rider, plan on 12 to 16 hours of riding time, not counting stops at the feed stations. The demand is aerobic endurance under constant short interruptions: barely 17 percent of the course is genuinely flat, about a third points uphill and another third down. You will rarely hold a steady rhythm for more than a few minutes at a time.

Two things decide the day. The first is the Monte Sante Marie double climb at kilometres 71 and 73. The second is the roughly 2,200 metres of ascent that fall outside the eight catalogued climbs and are spread across countless short ramps. That accumulation tires you more than any single mountain.

The conditions are part of the training. Eligible equipment means down-tube friction shifters, rim brakes, toe clips and straps, and gearing considerably harder than anything you normally ride. Train climbs deliberately in a gear that is too big, at a low cadence. The gravel calls for handling skill on long descents over loose surfaces, and the pre-dawn start means you should have practised exactly that at least once.

The training emphases follow from this: very long rides of eight hours and up, with the climbing deliberately back-loaded; muscular endurance work on climbs at 50 to 60 revolutions per minute; and the fuelling you will actually be offered. If you have not got used to solid Tuscan food at a feed stop, at least find out how your stomach handles it ten hours into a ride.