Experiences
Road cycling in Le Marche: the region nobody has overrun yet
Good tarmac, almost no traffic and hills that never stop. Why cyclists treat Le Marche as a secret, and what a week from here looks like.
- Best season
- March to May, September to November
- Terrain
- Rolling hills, coast 20 km away
- At the house
- Outdoor hose, washing machine, pool
Tuscany has a problem: everyone wants to go there. Le Marche offers the same picture of ridgelines, cypresses and a hill town on every crest, without the coaches. For cyclists that is the decisive difference.
What makes the region work
- Genuinely good tarmac, back roads included
- Little car traffic once you leave the coast
- A dense web of small roads between the villages
- A bar for an espresso in practically every place
- Mild temperatures from March through November
- The mix of flat coastline and serious climbing
From Casa Bellavista you ride straight into the hills. If you want to start flat, roll towards Senigallia and follow the coast. If you want elevation, turn inland, towards Arcevia, Corinaldo and on into the Apennines.
When it should hurt
Two names are known to every cyclist in Italy. Monte Conero by the sea, a 572-metre limestone headland whose climb averages around eleven per cent over 2.7 kilometres: short, brutal, with a sea view as the reward. And the Cippo di Carpegna further north-west, a professional training climb for decades.
If you prefer long to steep, the Monti Sibillini to the south offer climbs of alpine length. That is a day trip, though, not a ride from the door.
What the house brings to it
An outdoor hose to rinse the clay off after the gravel sections. A washing machine for the kit. A fridge with room for water in quantity. And a pool whose value you only properly understand after 140 kilometres in the sun.
The house is built for groups anyway: twelve beds, a dining table that seats all of them, and a kitchen where pasta can be cooked together in the evening. Spring training camps and autumn weeks fall exactly into the quiet part of our year.
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