Dolomites 2016 – inGamba Mangia. Beve. Bici.

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inGamba Tours 80 Liberty Ship Way, Unit 22 Sausalito, California 94965

MANGIA. eat BEVE. drink BICI. ride

DOLOMITES

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WELCOME João Correia

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BENVENUTO Michil Costa

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THE DOLOMITES

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MARATONA

HOTEL LA PERLA

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LA PINARELLO GRANDFONDO

Colin O’Brien 17

Francesco Ricci 21

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Colin O’Brien

THE FEAST Bill Strickland

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GIRO D’ITALIA Colin O’Brien

THE GREAT REWARD Colin O’Brien

Colin O’Brien

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SUPPORTING ACTS Colin O’Brien

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MAHATMA WINE

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GIORDANA

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PINARELLO

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STAFF

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RAUL

Colin O’Brien

Heidi Swift 67

EROS POLI MONSIEUR VENTOUX Colin O’Brien

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CHANGING LIVES João Correia

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RIDE, REST, REPEAT Ted King

inGamba is a cycling family where your brothers and sisters are professional bike riders, soigneurs, world class chefs, and wine growers. It’s a week that will change your outlook on life forever, both on and off the bike.

COLLY MURRAY, INGAMBA GUEST & WINE IMPORTER

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WELCOME JOÃO CORREIA

As many of you know, inGamba was an idea born on a ride in the fall of 2010, during my last season as a pro with the Cervélo Test Team. After spending the year living in Chianti, watching what I ate and focusing on my training, I realized I was unable to fully enjoy the bounties of a region I love so much.

One day after riding I sat with a glass of wine and sketched on a placemat my idea of a “perfect week”. I wanted to live that perfect week, but I also wanted more. I wanted to share it. Six years on, Chianti remains the heart of what we do, but we’ve also branched out in search of new adventures.

I’m really excited about this latest chapter in the inGamba story. The Dolomites is such an iconic part of cycling that it was an obvious choice for us when we started thinking about new destinations. But to offer the kind of unforgettable experience that we strive for, we needed more than just a location – we needed a connection.

With the Costa family and all the staff at La Perla, we’ve found that. This unique hotel in Corvara makes an indelible impression on its guests and enjoys the kind of global reputation that most businesses could only dream of. Having partners like this is a source of great pride for me and also a source of confidence because I know that they’re committed to the same exacting standards as we are at inGamba.

We’re all dedicated to providing you with a week of cycling on incredible roads so that we can enjoy spectacular food and wine, fully supported by our guides, soigneurs and mechanics who will take care of your body and bike, and make you feel part of a family.

Thank you for taking this new journey with us. It’s hard to believe that it’s been six years since our first trip, but then, it’s true what they say: Time flies when you’re having fun.

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BENVENUTO MICHIL COSTA

Being a host means to share values, with our guests, with our employes, with ourselves. At La Perla we do believe in values, in individuality, silence, family, as well as in beauty and respect, towards myself, towards my next, towards the environment. Yes, respect is Beauty, and Beauty is respect.

Very much so, we are practicing the Common Welfare Economy in our house, day after day. The Common Welfare Economy, is an alternative form of economy, which doesn’t put profit and cash-flow in first place anymore, it gives the importance to values such as human dignity, solidarity, ecological sustainability, social justice, democratical co-management and transparency. We do believe it is a good and right way to act. I have read a lot about alternative economies during the last years. A paradigm change is necessary, we all know, and it is now. But which is the way to make one understand,

even if only in a micro-reality like La Perla, the importance of Rights of Nature, of solidarity, transparency, of the happiness, which directly results from an economy not exclusively based on profit? Well, we found a way which is worth trying, if not worth believing.

I am sure, if every region, every manager, every mayor, every farmer, would practice this alternative kind of economy, things would change. Yes, I know, huge changes need time, but if we start to move now, maybe we still manage. Life should be like a mountain: majestic, protecting the people living under it; beautiful, full of new shadows and light games, every day.

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Welcome to Italy, home of good food and better wine. Local customs include taking it easy and looking after yourself.

COLIN O’BRIEN, ROULEUR MAGAZINE

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01.

MANGIA. eat

THE DOLOMITES COLIN O’BRIEN

People have come from every corner of the globe for this, to experience the narrow, winding ribbons of tarmac that now stretch out before us, beckoning. To fans of professional racing, the mountain passes of the Dolomites will have an almost religious significance. There are countless passes in this region, but in particular, Pordoi, Falzarego, Sella and Giau are names that cyclists speak with reverence.

Epic is a word that’s used far too often in cycling circles, but ascending the Passo Campolongo, with some of the world’s most iconic roads ahead of you, this is one instance when the use is warranted.

These slopes saw grand battles between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, bore witness to the genius of Eddy Merckx and carried the late Marco Pantani to glory. The Dolomites, and the roads that cross them, stand as

monuments to the greats of the past and lay in wait as stages for the stars yet to come.

They’re at the heart of cycling.

They’re also breathtaking. And not in the sense that you’ll be left gasping for air on some of the steeper gradients. There is a savage beauty to the peaks and a gentle grandeur to the swathes of green and modest hamlets that lay below. It’s a land of stark contrast, but one also marked by a peculiar harmony.

Certainly, there’s nowhere on earth more congruous for a cyclist. During the summer months, the local tourist board provides free maps and route guides for road and mountain bikers and there are even guided tours. Corvara’s hotels are well-equipped and very welcoming and out on the road, local restaurants are always teeming with

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Cycling with inGamba is not just about the landscape and the skyscape and the scenery: its about camaraderie and friendships and memories.

HEIDI SWIFT, PELOTON MAGAZINE

riders, and motorists in this part of the world never fail to show due care. And if you like, the ski-lifts will even carry your bike, free of charge.

rich reward of a lengthy, high-paced descent.

These roads are paved with cycling history and on race-day, lined with fans. Which makes for great riding.

The people of Alto Adige are always eager to get as many people as possible to connect with nature – not a hard thing to do in a landscape that’s so inspiring it’s protected

by UNESCO – and to contemplate our relationship with it. There’s genuine goodwill towards cyclists in these parts, towards anyone interested the great outdoors, and it’s motivated by nothing more than good intentions and a genuine desire to preserve and promote this special part of the world.

Here, you’re among friends. So enjoy the company, soak up the atmosphere and take in the awe-inspiring peaks – but forget the clock. Because in the Dolomites, a good time has nothing to do with how fast you ride.

The terrain is varied, ranging from lush green pastures to barren, snow-covered rock. It goes up, and down, but never flat.

Canopies of trees and shady woodlands give way to snaking switchbacks, exposed to the sun and the wind, and challenging climbs test body and mind but also guarantee the

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HOTEL LA PERLA FRANCESCO RICCI

At Hotel La Perla, the philosophy is: “To take care of ourselves we need to take care of all that which is around us.� This mantra is evident as you approach the unique setting facing the magnificent Sassongher mountain. Here, you can breathe in a combination of material and spirituality.

The rocks, meadows, mountain ascents and gentle slopes are mixed with the concrete mind of the Ladin people.

The story of La Perla began in 1957 when Ernesto Costa asked the municipality for a license to rent out six rooms in his home.

Since then, rooms have been added and the family has grown. Yet the feeling of warmth and the welcoming atmosphere remain unchanged. Hospitality is a model of life which is repeated on a daily basis

in the rooms dedicated to the guests, in the food carefully chosen of natural ingredients and in the comfort of common and shared areas. Cordiality and feeling reign supreme here; these are the innate qualities of the Costa family, passed down from generation to generation.

La Perla is a family-run hotel in the true sense. Proprietors and founders Ernesto and Annie are still seen throughout the hotel, making sure all is well with guests.

Their sons welcome you with a friendly smile and cater to your every need. And there is always a tale to tell and a glass or two of wine to enjoy. What better way to start up your evening than in the company of the owners.

The layout and color scheme in each of the 52 guest rooms at La Perla carry individual themes. You may find yourself surrounded by woolen rugs, ceramic paintings, a collection of beer mugs, a small wooden rocking horse – or perhaps a private collection of typewriters. Regardless of where you end up, you are guaranteed a perfectly stunning view.

La Perla is one of those special places where words and photographs are inadequate to describe the emotion guests experience on their visit. The exaltation “come and see for yourself” has never been more fitting advice.

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THE FEAST BILL STRICKLAND

What is the most delicious road you’ve ever ridden? Was there a meal that lay always before you like a spool of expensive ribbon unrolling to a far horizon that sometimes effortlessly drew you on and at others put you at your limit as you chased an end that seemed as if it would never come? Do you remember on a sun-drenched road reaching down to the cage for your bottle and getting a sip of water that was as fine

as any wine you’ve ever had, and have you ever been lucky enough to taste a wine as intoxicating as a mouthful of cold water chugged from your bottle when you unclipped on a crisp early morning mountaintop?

The ride is the food is the wine is the people at inGamba. The roads are succulent and bountiful, and the food and wine leave you breathless.

effortless yet is the result of untellable and unquantifiable commitment. I aspire to and admire sprezzatura in cycling and in life. These are the rides and the feasts and the people of inGamba. Have you ever had such a bounty? You can. You should.

You are about to.

The Pinarello bikes are to the highest standard of the purest gourmand. The personalities are rich and bold, yet full of subtle surprises. All is to be savored – and devoured. You are sated – and hungry for one more hill, one more delicacy, one more unforgettable character, one more new lifelong friend, one more perfect descent on a perfect bike, one more perfect descent on a perfect bike, one more chance to doze off on the massage table, to lounge on a patio overlooking a wide, gabled roof that itself overlooks a rugged mountainside that overlooks a valley at the bottom of which a farmer practices his own art.

There is one of those marvelously Italian words, sprezzatura, which describes a rare sort of grace, an elegance of movement and of living that is so natural it appears

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THE GREAT REWARD COLIN O’BRIEN

Hemingway said that hunger was good discipline. Feasting, then, is a great reward.

Anyone who doesn’t get a kick out of being served up a great meal either has a heart of stone or an eating disorder.

For the diner, there are few more sincerely appreciated gifts because food is both a necessity and a luxury. Normally mutually exclusive, that combination of requisite and intemperate impulses makes eating one of life’s great pleasures – probably because you can rationalise even the most lavish indulgence in gourmandise.

One has to eat, after all, so it might as well be done well. Any cyclist who’s ever spent a day in the saddle surviving on energy gels and electrolyte drinks will have a special understanding and appreciation for that particular maxim.

For the cook, feeding yourself and those you love takes on a life affirming context – especially if you know that they’ve been suffering on the bike for hours on end.

There’s no gravy or condiment that can improve a meal quite like that deep hunger that comes from mile after mile of exertion.

Once you’ve got that, all you need for the perfect meal are some simple ingredients: Time, a little know-how and some love. With those, you can cook up something that’s more than a meal. It becomes an invitation, a greeting, the body’s sustenance and the final chapter to the day’s story – all in one.

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Once the ride is over, the real adventure begins… A meal with inGamba dives straight into the heart of local cuisine.

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02.

BEVE. drink

MAHATMA WINE COLIN O’BRIEN

Mahatma is a Buddhist word, adopted

by Hinduism. It means “Great Soul”, making it the obvious name for a person like Mahatma Gandhi. It’s also a fitting appellation for underground labyrinth dedicated to collecting and enjoying wine.

There’s no shortage of soul in wine. A simple glass is one of life’s great pleasures, and a classic vintage stands as liquid testament to the potential of man and his environment working together. Because it is, after all, a rare thing to improve on nature. Most of the time we just mess it up. Wine is one of the few examples of a human endeavour bucking the trend, where creativity, tradition and hard work combine to make something utterly unique, something of us and at the same time indisputably of the earth.

The cellars at La Perla, unlike any other on earth, are the prefect place to contemplate

that incongruous relationship between man and mother nature, and between tradition and science, imagination and uncertainty.

Bottles of champagne dance enthusiastically on the walls. The floor becomes unsteady and unpredictable underfoot as the array of rare bottles come into focus and out from under their shadowy veils. Tom Waits serenades an enviable collection of Sauternes. Dante looms large over a room full of Sassicaia, where an especially precious treasure is revealed to anyone willing to kneel and pray. Perhaps to Bacchus?

This array of wine – and its unique surroundings – is a monument to a family’s unhurried care and attention.

And to the best that Europe has to offer.

The Dolomites might not be the first place you’d look for a world-class collection,

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but perhaps it’s an apt location, after all, high up in the great mountain range that both connects and divides so much of the continent.

And it’s a unique experience, surrounded by a landscape that so dramatically reaches upward, always higher, to delve deep, into the cellar to explore: From the grand châteaux of Bordeaux to the green and umber rolling hills of Tuscany, and from the unencumbered, aromatic simplicity of Alsace’s whites to the towering, pronounced complexity of a great Barolo.

So, watch your step – and enjoy the show.

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This experience is greater than the sum of its parts. When I think of inGamba, I think about camaraderie and having as much fun off the bike as on. The real joy of these trips is when your abs are sore from laughing your ass off at the dinner table.

MARK BIBBEY, INGAMBA REGULAR

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03.

BICI. ride

MARATONA COLIN O’BRIEN

The Maratona dles Dolomites is the queen of grandfondos. It’s gruelling, beautiful, fun, overwhelming, unforgettable. It’s breathtaking, both figuratively and literally.

And for an amateur rider, there’s simply nothing else like it. In fact, the scale of it is probably enough to shock a lot of lower level pros.

There are camera crews, photographers on motorbikes and helicopters overhead.

It’s broadcast live on Italian TV. It’s almost impossible to get an entry – more than 30,000 apply for the lottery, and in the excitement of it all during those first few kilometres, it’s all too easy to forget just what the hell you’ve signed yourself up for.

One day a year in the normally sleepy Ladin valleys of Italy’s far north, a gunshot sends more than 9,000 riders climbing out of the darkness, just before dawn breaks over the surrounding peaks. Throughout the huge peloton, the atmosphere is electric; at the front, the pace almost frightening. Bands line the roadside. At some bends the fans are five or six deep behind the hoardings.

There are three courses, none of them exactly easy. The shortest looks benign enough at first glance, just 55km. It still manages to pack in almost 1,800m of climbing. The medium route takes 106 km, with 3,090m of elevation. And then there’s the Maratona proper, 138 kilometres of extraordinary, excruciating riding that climbs just short of 4,200m.

That takes you over the Passo Campolongo (5.8 km, Gradient: 6.1%, done twice), Passo Pordoi (9.2 km, Gradient: 6.9%), Passo Sella (5.5 km, Gradient: 7.9%), Passo Gardena (5.8 km, Gradient: 4.3%), Passo Giau (9.9 km, Gradient: 9.3%) and the Passo Falzarego/ Valparola (11.5 km, Gradient: 5.8%).

At the top of the Passo di Giau, the race’s highest point, you’ll be 2,236m above sea level, surrounded by snow and rock and little else. You’ll also be staring at an incredibly fun, and fast, descent into Pocol, one that’s made all the more entertaining by the fact that you’re hurtling down the mountain with so many other cyclists. And after that? There’s just the small matter of the 11.5km climb to the top of Falzarego and

the Passo Valparola, in the tracks of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, and not so terribly far away from a sunny afternoon spent enjoying a well-earned beer and bowl of pasta and indulging in the many stories of your fellow riders.

And that’s the real beauty of the Maratona – sharing an unforgettable experience with cyclists from around the world. It isn’t meant be a suffer-fest. It’s a celebration of cycling, of the Dolomites and of the area’s unique culture. It’s incredibly inclusive and whether you ride fast or slow, at the finish all that counts is how much fun you’ve had.

Turn up, enjoy yourself, and you’ll fit right in.

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LA PINARELLO GRANDFONDO COLIN O’BRIEN Pinarello is more than just a bicycle manufacturer. Some of the cycling’s greatest champions have ridden their frames to victory and among the sport’s cognoscenti, there’s no other marque lusted over quite like the one that Giovanni Pinarello started in Treviso back in 1952.

Their bikes transcend simple function.

They’ve won a lot of races, sure, but that pedigree is only part of the allure – they’re part machine, part work of art. Pinarello is perhaps the closest thing cycling has to names like Ferrari or Porsche and their bikes inspire dogged loyalty and stir up unique emotions in a way that other brands could only dream of doing.

guest of inGamba, you can expect special treatment, of course. We’re firm friends with Fausto Pinarello and we always find time for a factory tour and a glimpse at the new range.

But the biggest treat awaiting us in Treviso is the Pinarello Cycling Marathon – or la Pina, to the regulars. This granfondo is the perfect playground for our fleet of Dogma F8s: there are fast flats, gruelling climbs and technical descents. It’s a 158km celebration of Grand Tour wins and beautiful bikes and countless hours spent in the saddle by riders the world over. And if you love Pinarellos like we do, it’s not to be missed.

Once a year in the famous framebuilder’s home town, cyclists from far and wide come together to commemorate the unique hold that these bikes hold upon us. Being a BICI 45

GIRO D’ITALIA COLIN O’BRIEN

These mountains make and break bike races.

Without the challenges, the beauty and the drama promised by the Dolomites and the Alps and the Pyrenees, there wouldn’t be a Tour de France or a Giro d’Italia. At least, not one worth watching.

The Passo Pordoi has hosted the Giro 37 times since 1940, and seen generations of stars shine on its slopes from Bartali, Coppi and Hugo Koblet to Laurent Fignon, Claudio Chiappucci, Miguel Indurain. The Ladin valleys, the looming majesty of the Marmolada, and the jagged, craggy faces of the Sella are as woven into the history of cycling as those winding, breathtaking roads are entwined in the mountains.

The Passo di Giau is no less infamous. It has set the Giro alight on several occasions, most recently in 2012 when Joaquim Rodríguez and Ryder Hesjedal were battling for the maglia rosa.

We’d run out of space retelling every duel that these passes have seen, but one in particular merits mention: A Giro stage that’s still spoken about, in hushed tones, almost 70 years later.

Falzarego is named after a myth about a despotic ruler turned his back on his people and was turned to stone. In the local Ladin language, it means “False King”. There’s nothing fallacious about the cycling royalty that immortalised its slopes though.

It was the scene of one of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali’s most famous encounters, at a decisive point in the 1946 Giro D’Italia.

The first corsa rosa after WWII was an emotive affair, and probably most famous for Giordano Cottur’s heroic, defiant ride on stage 12 into the centre of the divided city of Trieste, his home, even after the Giro’s organisers had bowed to the demands of terrorists and cancelled the day’s racing.

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When normal racing resumed on stage 13, Italy’s two great champions, Coppi and Bartali, returned to outclassing all and sundry. The Piemontese took the day’s victory, the Tuscan took the maglia rosa. Then, something extraordinary happened. That night, the story goes, Bartali abandoned the race in a fit of rage after being told that the Italian cycling federation had decided to veto its riders’ participation in the upcoming Tour de Suisse. It was, by all accounts, a race that Bartali enjoyed, not least because he was being paid a lot of money to participate.

Then, as one does, he hit the town with some friends. When he woke up the next morning, news that the federation’s president had backtracked on the decision – probably after realising that upsetting the country’s biggest sporting hero wasn’t the best career move – added an extra kick to his hangover.

Demands met, he was back in the Giro, regardless of how bad the headache was.

Stage 14 was a beautiful brute: 203km from Auronzo di Cadore on the Austrian border to Bassano del Grappa in the heart of Veneto. Perhaps smelling weakness – or the wine – from his great rival, Coppi attacked at the base of Falzarego, the first big climb of the day.

One hundred and fifty kilometres to go, and everything to play for. Coppi had been written off earlier in the race when stomach pains had all but crippled him, but there, in the Dolomites, the Giro’s biggest stage, he was reborn, and rode like a man possessed.

Bartali couldn’t keep up and by the summit of the “False King”, he was more than 1’30” down. By the next peak, he’d lost another minute – and by the time the race entered its final 40km, he was more than five behind.

In the end, the wily old Bartali managed to cobble together a scruffy alliance of friends and foes to claw back enough time from the dogged Coppi, who won the day by 72

seconds, and keep him in the pink jersey.

Bartali would secure what turned out to be his final Giro when the race arrived in Milan four days later, but a message had been sent on that ascent to Falzarego. His time at the top was over. It was Coppi’s turn to be the Campionissimo.

their most enthralling and unforgettable performances. And now they’re outside, waiting for you to snake your way skyward and make some memories of your own.

These peaks have been the backdrops for some of cycling’s most memorable moments. They are the theatre in which our sport’s greatest protagonists have given BICI 49

The inGamba cadence is something like this: pedal, eat, drink, laugh, massage, eat, laugh, drink, sleep, repeat. For those that love the bike the way that we do, it’s the perfect balance of challenge, beauty, recovery and indulgence.

HEIDI SWIFT, PELOTON MAGAZINE

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SUPPORTING ACTS COLIN O’BRIEN

InGamba aims to serve your senses. We deal in emotions. We sweat the small stuff to deliver big experiences. We want to dish up the richest parts of every region and let you relish all of it slowly.

None of that would be possible without our incredible team of mechanics, soigneurs and riders. With years of experience in the professional peloton with teams like Tinkoff and Cannondale, they’re the support network you deserve, doing everything in their power to make this vacation an unforgettable adventure.

On the road, they can be tour guides, advisors, friends, a helpful wheel to hold when the pace quickens. They know the stories hidden in the countryside and the folklore behind the local food and wine. They are a one-way ticket to the best coffee shops along the route and your servers when you finally stop for that ristretto.

Back at base, the magic never stops at our Service Course, because behind every great rider, there’s a great mechanic. Their know-how allows a climber’s bike to soar in the mountains and gives a sprinter the confidence to fight for the line. The hours they spend agonising over every nut and bolt, each gram of grease and every millimetre of cable give the fastest riders on the planet the confidence to be their best, safe in the knowledge that they won’t be undone by a dropped chain or a broken spoke.

The best mechanics aren’t just cleaners and fixers – they’re insurance polices. Like a loyal Sous-Chef or the base player in your band, they might not get much credit from the wider public, but the people who matter most will tell you that no success would be possible without their endeavours.

The soigneurs, meanwhile, are like wizards, turning sore tissue into fresh muscle, ready

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for the next challenge. With years under their belts as professional riders, they are intimately in tune with the care that cyclists need each day to be their best. They take care of your bottles each morning, fill your musette with ride food that they have been cooking late into the night, and wake your legs up with a quick rub before you hop in the saddle.

And the man behind the curtain smoothing out all of this chaos, is Nate. You may have spoken to him about bike fit or exchanged e-mails about travel, but it’s hard to explain how much of himself he puts into each and every trip. He’s the guy pulling the strings, directing traffic, coordinating timetables and handling the inevitably complex logistics that ensure your experience with inGamba exceeds every expectation.

All of these people make inGamba special.

Without them, none of it is possible. Whether they’re riding next to you, driving to dinner or working in the background, they share a common goal: to care for you,to address your needs before you know you have them and to handle every last detail of daily life so you can focus on enjoying the ride, literally and figuratively. You’ll see some amazing places with us and get used to some incredible equipment, but we guaruntee that the most memorable part of this whole experience will be the people. They look forward to welcoming you into the family.

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GIORDANA Giordana have been friends of inGamba for a long time. And not just because they make some of the best cycling kit on the market. We’re partners because we share a genuine passion for cycling, because we both believe in quality and because

we’re both immensely proud of what we do. Giorgio Andretta founded Giordana in 1979 with a clear goal: To offer athletes unparalleled performance by combining the best of Italian craftsmanship and style with the latest technological advances.

More than 30 years later, his company still sets the standard. Our custom inGamba kit is lovingly made by a team of skilled workers at Giordana’s factory near Vicenza in northern Italy.

We think it performs perfectly, and represents the best of Italian manufacturing. And just as importantly, it looks cool. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy it as much as we do.

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PINARELLO No one blends pedigree and performance like Pinarello. Known for their multiple Grand Tour wins and their jaw-dropping looks, these bikes are the stuff dreams

are made of. Pinarello’s latest super-bike, the Dogma F8, is the combination of over 60 years experience with the latest technological advancements – with a

little help from Team Sky and Jaguar, who know a thing or two about going fast.

Unsurprisingly, it’s utterly gorgeous. And, while you’re with us, it’s yours to enjoy.

It will come equipped with SRAM Red eTap, and wheels and finishing kit from Zipp.

That’s a lot of bling, but hey, life is too short to ride anything but the best.

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STAFF We serve your senses. We deal in feelings, tastes and experiences. We want to tap into the richest parts of this region and let you relish all of it slowly. The landscapes, the vistas, the rolling roads – those are fixed things that surround us, that create the backdrop for the moments, conversations and revelations that will inform your time here. On the edges of that stage are characters who are committed to ensuring the quality of your experience – a staff that will become like family.

On the road, our guides are there for you in every regard. A guide, a companion, a helpful wheel to hold when the pace quickens. They know the stories hidden in the countryside and they’ll share them with you. They are a one-way ticket to the best coffee shops along the route and your servers when you finally stop for that ristretto. Our Lead Guide, Eros Poli

has more experience riding these roads than anyone around. He was the winner of the legendary 1994 Tour de France stage over Mt. Ventoux. Imagine a guy like that riding next to you and offering words of encouragement when the group is going fast, and the going gets tough.

Back in the Service Course, our mechanics will care for your bike with the attention to detail and honed precision of a pro-tour mechanic, tuning and washing it each night. In fact, our previous mechanics are all working on the Pro-tour for teams like Tinkoff-Saxo and Cannondale-Garmin. In the morning, you’ll find your bike outside, already in the correct gear, right pedal turned to exactly 3 o’clock. We trust our mechanics with the bikes because there is no one better – and because at the heart of your experience everyday on the road is the quality of your connection to the machine.

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The soigneurs are the magicians, turning sore muscles into fresh ones with daily massage. With years under their belts as a professional riders, they are intimately in tune with the care that cyclists need each day to be their best. They take care of your bottles each morning, fill your musette with ride food that they have been cooking late into the night, and wake your legs up with a quick rub before you hop in the saddle. Raul is the master soigneur. And while he cares for your body, he also takes care of your spirit, livening up the day with jokes and antics, maybe even a little song and dance. There are few people in this world with the power to elicit such joy and happiness as he does on a daily basis.

And the man behind the curtain smoothing out all of this chaos, is Miguel. You may have spoken to him about bike fit or exchanged e-mails about travel, but it’s unlikely you’ll ever see him. He’s the guy pulling the strings, directing traffic,

coordinating timetables and handling the inevitably complex logistics that ensure your experience with inGamba exceeds every expectation.

The members of the staff wear many hats.

At some point Miguel will turn up on a bike, pedaling alongside you through the lush fields that line the road to Crete Senesi. One of our mechanics, Helder, might be behind you in the support van, blaring endearingly awful Euro-pop from the radio, ready to hand you a Coca-Cola at a moment’s notice. It could be Raul’s wheel that you follow through the snaking curves of a long descent.

Whether they’re riding next to you, driving to dinner or working in the background, they share a common goal: to care for you, to address your needs before you know you have them and to handle every last detail of daily life so you can focus on enjoying the ride, literally and figuratively.

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Raul may be a soigneur, but that’s just a facade. He’s one of life’s rare human beings that will have you in hysterical laughter in the blink of an eye.

PETER CRACKNELL, INGAMBA GUEST

RAUL HEIDI SWIFT

You come to inGamba knowing you will get massages from a professional soigneur. You think of this as a set of hands and a moment of relaxation. You imagine yourself closing your eyes after a hard ride – a bit of kneading and pressure sorts you out. Instead, you get Raul. Raul the leg whisperer.

Raul the clown. Raul the mime. Raul the comedian. Raul the lover. Raul the great. Raul forever.

You fall in love with him. You can’t help it. Neither could I. And he loves you, too. Because that is why he breathes. To take care of people. To take care of you. To take care of me.

The word “soigneur” means “one who takes care of others”.

This is not just about massage. Everyone who meets Raul will learn that. Everyone who meets Raul will learn something they did not know about how to love each other as human beings. His is a selfless, devoted, invested kind of care.

Raul takes care of my legs every day that I am in Tuscany. On some days he also rides with me, observing the way I climb or shift gears. When we climb with fast groups he puts a hand on my lower back and takes the edge off of my threshold effort. He always asks for permission first. When I run out of water, he hands me a fresh bidon from his cage. When the fireworks go off in the front of the group, he sometimes gets caught up in the fray. Then he sits up, supermans on his saddle and drifts back to me. Laughing.

Later when he works my calves he props my leg up on the table and leans his head against my knee – eyes closed – and disappears into his work. There is a conversation shared between fingers and muscles as he kneads his way into the very details of my pedaling, the shadowy forms of my doubts and insecurities, the secret hopes guarded in my heart. By the time he’s done, he knows more about me than I intended.

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EROS POLI MONSIEUR VENTOUX COLIN O’BRIEN

He was never supposed to win. Especially not on the Tour de France’s most venerated mountain. Sure, he was prized as Mario Cipollini’s sprint lead-out man, but as a climber?

Forget it. He weighed more without a bike than most of his competitors did with one, and towered above them all at 1.94 metres tall. He’d had a stellar amateur career, but turned pro late, aged 28. He was an excellent domestique, but not a doyen. No, Mont Ventoux wasn’t for meant for him.

And yet, Eros Poli took it anyway. The Giant of Provence was conquered by a giant from Verona with a breakaway so audacious that his rivals ignored it. They thought it was the very definition of folly. It was, in fact, the definition of panache.

It was the kind of romantic win befitting a guy called Eros.

Cipo, the greatest sprinter of his generation and Poli’s team leader, had crashed out of the Vuelta and missed the Tour.

Mercatone Uno were without a leader for La Grande Boucle, and so the the workers were let off the chain. It was a rare opportunity to impress at the season’s biggest event, and one that Poli took by the scruff of the neck.

Attacking solo some 100km before Ventoux, the Veronese knew that he’d need a huge lead to stay ahead of the pack once the flat stage turned nasty and the road started heading skyward. He did the math. Accepted he’d need at least 24 minutes at the foot of the mountain – a minute for every kilometre climbed with an extra cushion, just in case.

And then he went to work.

When the early ramps of the ascent arrived, he was leading by more than 25 minutes. The peloton didn’t know it yet, but they’d sealed their fates. Not even an attack from a young Marco Pantani could bring him back. He crossed the summit four minutes ahead of il Pirata. 40km to the finish in Carpentras, but with gravity and adrenaline and a lifetime of ambition on his side. The stage, the adoration of cycling fans everywhere, and a unique place in the history books, were his.

The following day, Italy’s sports paper of record, La Gazzetta dello Sport, called it a national triumph, and ran with the headline: “Ventoux is finally ours!” Two decades later, the French still call him Monsieur Ventoux. At inGamba, we’re just proud to call him one of us.

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Miguel Indurain is a champion, but Eros Poli is a hero.

JEAN MARIE LEBLANC, TOUR DE FRANCE DIRECTOR 1989 - 2005

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What drew me to inGamba was at first the trip itself and what I found was a group of people that truly care about the world around them. That blew me away and I’ve been back every year since it started.

GARY SMITH, INGAMBA’S FIRST CLIENT

CHANGING LIVES JOÃO CORREIA For us, a bicycle is a recreational tool. But to millions of people around the world, a bicycle is an inexpensive, sustainable form of transportation, one that can mean the difference between seeing a doctor, getting to school, making a living – or not.

One of the things we are most proud of at inGamba is our One Guest: One Bike program where we donate $147 – the price of one bike – to World Bicycle Relief’s Africa program in honor of each person who travels with us.

World Bicycle Relief addresses the lack of affordable, reliable transportation in rural Africa by designing, sourcing and manufacturing high-quality bicycles to withstand African terrain and load requirements while meeting the needs of students, healthcare workers, farmers and entrepreneurs.

They strengthen local economies and promote long-term sustainability by assembling bicycles locally, training mechanics and improving the spare parts supply chain.

We share common values and envision a world where distance is no longer a barrier to education, healthcare and economic opportunity. A world where bikes make a difference.

We believe strongly that inGamba is helping change the lives of our guests by giving them a travel experience that is unparalleled and we’re making it our mission to make the world a better place through the power of a bicycle.

So, we’re asking you to join us in this fight to bring life changing transportation opportunity to Africa by making a donation before their trip to the non-profit World Bicycle Relief at wbr.org.

Donating a bicycle is more than a gift; it is a long-term investment in sustainable practices and economic opportunity in rural Africa. Please join us, you may just find out – like we did – that you get so much back from giving.

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To be honest, riding with inGamba is the best week of my season. The fun at the dinner table, the wines and the perfect roads makes it a dream week for me. I return to my race season, totally unstressed, but really well trained.

LAURENS TEN DAM, TOP 10 FINISHER 2014 TOUR DE FRANCE

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RIDE, REST, REPEAT TED KING

Please pardon this terribly perfect analogy, but inGamba runs the absolutely perfect (wait for it)... cycle. You arrive anxious and eager to soak in the entire week’s adventure in Italy, so the first day you’re bursting out of bed and onto the bike. You come home that evening after one of the most amazing rides of your life sinuously weaving through the Italian countryside and you’re famished. So João has arranged one of the best meals you’ll ever eat from a restaurant you’ve certainly never heard of nor would you have ever found left to your own devices. Rest, repeat, raise to the power of amazing, and multiply times 7 – or however many days your trip is. Every greeting is familial and heartwarmingly organic, every detail covered. Every bite, every pedal stroke, and every sip you’ll remember for the rest of your life.

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WORDS & IMAGES MANUEL BOTTAZZO Creative Director

JOÃO CORREIA Retired professional cyclist | inGamba Founder

MICHIL COSTA Proprietor, Hotel La Perla

JERED GRUBER Features Editor | Peloton Magazine | inGamba Guest

FRANCESCO RICCI Local Author

JIM MERITHEW Journalist | inGamba Guest

COLIN O’BRIEN Writer | inGamba Guest

BILL STRICKLAND Editor-at-Large | Bicycling Magazine | inGamba Guest

HEIDI SWIFT Editor-at-Large | Peloton Magazine | inGamba Guest

ORIGINAL CONCEPT JOÃO CORREIA NATE RIPPERTON

PARTNERS A special thanks to our partners who add as much to our guests’ experience as any restaurant, wine or ride we do. They allow us to treat our guests like pros.

Our bikes are Pinarello Dogma F8s equipped with SRAM Red eTap and Zipp wheels, bars and stems, saddles by fi’zi:k and tires by Vittoria. Clothing by Giordana, nutrition and hydration by ClifBar and heads protected by Giro helmets. Friendly competition brought to you by Strava and fueled by Handlebar Coffee. Training programs

by Carmichael Training Systems. Corner clearance and knees saved

by Speedplay pedals, Elite water bottles and cages. Bikes stay tuned

by Park Tools. Bags for bikes and gear by SciCon. Cool name stickers

by Victory Circle Graphix. Garmins held in place by the original BarFly3.0. And, we make a difference in the world through World Bicycle Relief.

inGamba is the collaboration of a few people who wanted to share their passions for riding a bicycle, eating great food and drinking fantastic wine.

We strive to live each “perfect week” fully while introducing our guests to a world they may not know existed. inGamba was born from a simple tweet: “Thinking of doing a ride, eat, drink EOY bash here in chianti October 12 –18th,” said @joaoisme. “Share my favorite things about this place. Who’s interested?”

Four brave souls – Gary Smith, Kevin Irvine, Jason Probert and Robin Kelly – answered. There were no security deposits, no liability waivers, just as Kevin put it “a huge amount of trust”.

The adventure writer Bill Gifford added words to the narrative; Jason Gould provided images while Joe Staples, Andrew Reed, Michael Scher and Tony Little created the canvas. The original team consisted of Raul Matias, Jorge Queirós, João Correia and the kind people of Lecchi in Chianti whose world we share with a few lucky travelers each year.

From these humble beginnings sprouted this thing we call inGamba.