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In a nutshell
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Start
Finish
Countries
Stages
Rest day(s)
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Ajaccio, France
Ajaccio, France
Corsica, France
10 stages
Bastia
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Total distance
Average distance
Total climbing
Average climbing
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1.054 km
105 km
20.000 meters
2.000 meters
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659 miles
66 miles
65.600 feet
6.560 feet
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Road condition
Period
Accommodation
Price
Discount
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100% paved
Sunday April 7th, 2024
Wednesday April 17th, 2024
12 hotel nights
€ 2.695,-
€ 200,- for early registration |
Description
Corsica resembles a miniature continent with astounding
geographical diversity. Within short cycling distances,
the landscape ranges from glittering bays, vibrant
coastal cities and fabulous beaches to sawtooth mountain
ridges, verdant valleys, dense forests and
time-forgotten hilltop villages. All "classic"
ingredients to guarantee a wonderful and challenging
bicycle tour. We would like to welcome you to
Classica Corsica.
We start our tour over Corsica in the classy and
historic city of Ajaccio, which is also
the capital of the island. With ferries from mainland
France mooring right alongside, Ajaccio's always
bustling with activity. It's the birthplace of Napoléon
Bonaparte, and you'll know it. He's everywhere, in
street names, statues and museums.
Classica Corsica runs anti-clockwise over the island
which means that we leave Ajaccio in southern direction.
The route doesn't always stick to the coastal road, but
tries to find an enjoyable combination between the best
scenic roads along the coast, and challenging climbs
over quiet winding roads more inland.
On your first day to the small town of Propriano
you pass Corsica's most important prehistoric site
Filitosa. The remarkable site preserves
extraordinary granite menhirs that were originally
erected as much as 6.000 years ago.
We head further south to the most southern tip of the
island, Bonifacio. Thanks to its
stunning natural setting, the ancient fortress town is
an essential stop for all visitors to Corsica. Bonifacio
is not only the oldest town of the island, it's also the
most spectacular. Perched atop 100 meter high, layered
white limestone and sandstone cliffs, it boasts
phenomenal views south across to Sardinia which is only
13 kilometres away.
We follow the south eastern coastline and pass the
resort of Porto-Vecchio. North of the
alluring port town we start climbing from sea level up
to the Col de Bavella with an altitude
of 1.218 metres. The pass overlooks the magnificent
silhouettes of the serrated Aiguilles de Bavella.
Soaring to over 1.600 meters, and also known as the
Cornes d'Asinao, these jagged points vary in colour from
grey to ochre to golden as the sun moves across the sky.
We cycle through the mountainous heart of the island
with forests of enormously tall Corsican pines and
peaceful valleys which echo tumbling streams. We arrive
back at sea level in the northeastern part of Corsica
where we have planned a rest day in Bastia
and marks the halfway point of our bicycle tour. The
historic city has a maze of alleyways, a bustling
medieval harbour and an imposing citadel.
Immediately north of Corsica's economic capital, we
follow the coastline of the enchanting Cap Corse
Peninsula which boasts a spectacular coastal
décor, as well as delightful villages like Nonza,
Centuri and Erbalunga.
The coastal road south holds some of the most
breathtaking scenery in all Corsica. It's where the
island meets the Mediterranean in optima forma.
Successive bays unfold in dazzling splendour, each
peppered with picturesque villages. Many of the beaches
are superb, and the sea is consistently enticing.
We pass Calvi, basking between the
fiery orange bastions of its medieval citadel and a
glittering moon-shaped bay that's lined by a magnificent
beach. The town has a long and venerable history. Locals
insist that Christopher Columbus was born here, in the
one Genoese city on Corsica that the French could never
capture.
We don't miss out on the Calanques de Piana
on the west coast. These red-and-pink calanques
are part of a Unesco World Heritage site. As you cycle
along the narrow road winding its way through rocks and
scrub bushes, the rocks will start getting bigger,
fashioned into fantastic shapes that every person
interprets in their own way: where one will see a lion,
another will see a human or yet another a strange
gargoyle. Meanwhile you'll get tantalizing glimpses of
the sea far below.
We head back again inland over a spectacular road which
winds her way through the highest peaks of the island
that remain snow-capped well into the spring. The road
climbs up to the Col de Vergio at 1.467
meter and offers enough reasons to stop. Not only to
admire the landscape of giant granite fingers, deep
gorges, Alpine meadows and lakes but also because you'll
be competing for road space with cows and Corsica's wild
black pigs.
Blessed with a stunning natural setting, circled by
jagged peaks at the confluence of several rivers, the
mountain stronghold of Corte is as
forbidding as it is spectacular. Centring on a towering
pinnacle that's been fortified for over 2.000 years, it
still stands at the heart of Corsican identity. A last
wonderful stage through the mountains brings as finally
back to the place where we started, Ajaccio.
The whole route follows paved, relatively quiet and
scenic roads. The course varies from serious hills to
long climbs. Don't expect one single flat stage.
The tour is planned in the beginning of spring which
guarantees normally pleasant cycling temperatures
throughout the tour with still patches of snow in the
mountains. You can expect a temperature between 15 and
20 degrees Celsius at sea level. The weather conditions
can always be unsettled and the circumstances can become
heroic if you reach altitudes around or above 1.000
metres.
The tour is open for cyclists from all around the world
to create an exceptional atmosphere, during as well as
after the bike ride.
The 1st edition of the "Classica Corsica" starts
Sunday April 7th, 2024
in Ajaccio. The finish lies after 11 days, 10 stages and
1.100 attracting kilometres in the same city.
"Classica Corsica" is a short, wonderful bicycle escape
in an alluring and picturesque setting. The pearl of the
Mediterranean.
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The credo of Bike Dreams is : "Life is not the
dreams you have, but the dreams you realize".
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