With Le Vie del Bike, Italy puts itself on the map. An insanely beautiful cycle route that, if you cycle it in its entirety, shows everything of Italy in all its beauty. From the beautiful North, across the Po Valley, to Tuscany, and further south. The rugged south, but even here you will find great places to cycle. Explorer Femke set off for us and rode part of the route. So read also the first two parts of this trip. Cycling in le Marche is a big tip for 2023.
By: Femke Rotteveel
Le Vie del Bike: Le Marche
The final region of our trip is Marche. The landscape is just a bit different from Tuscany and Umbria. At this time, autumn, you have beautiful colours surrounding you. The route takes us past the town of Genga, 18 kilometres after the Umbrian border.
Special stops: Valadier
There are two particular stops to make here. For one, you have to walk a little way from the road. There you will find the lonely white chapel of Valadier, built ín a cave at the request of Pope Leo XII. You cannot see the little church from the road, but once inside the cave, the view is truly breathtaking. For this visit, you can leave your bike downstairs for a while and then continue on your way.
Special stops: Frasassi stalactite caves
The second stop we do is the dripstone caves of Frassassi. Dripstone caves are always very special. It's definitely worth a visit, although I wouldn't do it in my cycling suit as it's only 14 degrees inside, even in summer. But if you're looking for a hotel nearby, this is a nice getaway for on a rest day!
Sometimes things come along
At Umbria we had real Dutch weather: rain and a very cold headwind. Andrea joked that in Le Marche the sun always shines, and guess what? The weather was brilliant the last day. This area of Italy is less known to foreign tourists. More than 75% of visitors are from Italy itself. The remaining tourists come from Austria and Germany; the Netherlands is not even mentioned. Unknown makes unloved In my view, this is totally unjustified. What to expect when you go cycling in Le Marche? It is "Tuscany on doping", because there are more hills here (shorter in length) that are just as steep but also higher. If you stand on one of those hills you can see the beach and look out over the Adriatic Sea. At this time of year, around November, we see mostly fallow fields and I ask the tour guide what is actually being cultivated. Well, the reason to do this part of Le Vie del Bike in July and August: sunflowers!
Panorama galore
The route runs along the coast to the south that naturally leads you from panorama to panorama. At several points you can see the beautiful white cliffs. So am I in France or in Italy? Our ride & weekend stops in Ancona, and I wonder if this will become a popular rest stop among cyclists who will do the Grand Tour, because how nice it is to be able to take a dip in the sea after a day of cycling!
Le Vie del Bike
I think Le Vie del Bike is really going to become a bucket list item among cycling enthusiasts. The Dolomites are already popular and we all love watching the Giro d'Italia and the Strade Bianche. You know the dinner is always good, there are no better coffee stops than in Italy, not to mention the 'gelato' and the views while cycling.
Discovering regions
Cycling the route is the perfect way to discover new regions of the country and you can take as long or as short as you like: in one holiday or a bit every year. The route is suitable for road bikes, gravel bikes or various types of e-bikes. The regions in central Italy may have been the best introduction to Le Vie del Bike. Because, as the guide said, in northern Italy they live to work and in southern Italy they work to live. Tuscany, Umbria and Marche strike the perfect balance in this regard.
