The 117km long race with 2,000m of climbing starts in the historic city center of Pistoia, at the Piazza del Duomo. From there, it heads south towards what is arguably the heart of road cycling in the world: The Montalbano hills. This inauspicious, 500m tall hill with vineyards and olive groves is home to some of the greatest professional riders, past and present, as well as numerous races from junior level all the way to World Tour. The area is not just famous for its cycling heritage; at km 90, the course traverses Vinci, the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci, the artist-scientist genius.

After the opening 21 flat kilometers, the south eastern end of Montalbano offers four back-to-back climbs where you gain and drop about 200m at each one. At the most southern point of the course, a climb leads up to the small town of Montespertoli in the Chianti hills from where you can catch a glimpse of Florence, just 20km away.

Heading back north, the Castro climb on the western side leads to the highest point of the race at 420m. It is followed by a twisty-fun descent down to Vinci. From there, the 12km-long gradual climb to the San Baronto village at an altitude of 365m begins. It’s rarely steeper than 3% and a feast for your senses and why Toscana is considered a cycling paradise: it winds its way through vineyards and olive groves, offering spectacular views of the Lucca valley and the Apuan Alps.

From San Baronto at 102km, the course leads you back to Pistoia by first descending San Baronto via Casalguidi and from there, cruise along the final flat 10km stretch to the finish line at “La Cattedrale”, a historic industrial building now hosting GFNY’s packet pickup and post race festivities.

The medium route riders ride the same course as the long route riders until km 23.5, and cut 51km of the long route by splitting off at Carmignano. You will take on the challenging climb of Pinone, then descend down to Vinci, and rejoin the long route from Vinci to the finish line.