On 18 May I rode the Gran Fondo Nove Colli.  Although I have ridden a number of 200km audaxes this was my first attempt at a sportive and a number of things struck me as being very different from an audax event.  Firstly everyone is on race bikes most of which are top end machines  - I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many Pinarellos and Colnagos gathered in one place.  Secondly the event is completely supported, signed and marshalled.  There are feed stations, mechanics, first aid support and most importantly the roads are closed for the first 100 or so kilometres.

I was riding the event as part of a cycling holiday in Italy staying at the excellent Hotel Belvedere in Riccione.  The hotel handled the entry and transport to and from the event (there were over 70 of us riding from the hotel alone) and even set up their own feed station after the top of the toughest climb.  Although I had initially wanted to do the 205km event, I realised that 3900m of climbing was going to be pretty tough and if I wanted to keep riding for the rest of the week I should do the shorter 130km course with about half as much climbing.

The event began at 6.15 in the morning which involved getting up around 3am for breakfast and to get the coach to the start.  With more than 10,000 participants the initial 30km was very crowded.  The event starts off on pan flat roads and everyone races to the first climb.  I had heard that a big bottleneck can form on the first climb so I decided to get in a decent group and go hard on the flat section.  With the roads closed and completely filled with riders going at around 45km/h the start section was quite exciting.  Some of the local riders took incredible risks just to move up a couple of places but once we hit the first climb everything settled down into a more sensible pace.

After 90km I had reached the high point on the course and had been going for just under 4 hours.  I knew that I would have to have a fast finish to beat my 5 hour target.  I had a brief stop at the hotel’s feed station and then set off on the last leg.  The finishing 15 km were just like the start with fast groups flying along at racing pace.  I got involved in one of these groups, did my bit to close up some gaps with other groups but otherwise tried to stay out of the brisk cross-wind which had started to blow off the sea.  The finish area was just like a pro race with crowds behind crash barriers and proper finish banners etc.  In the end I recorded 5hrs and 4 minutes and was placed 2113rd.

More details of the Nove Colli are on the attached link and I also attach a link to the excellent hotel that we stayed in and which I would have no hesitation in recommending to anyone looking for a great cycling holiday.

http://www.novecolli.it/MainSiteEng/001.Storia.aspx

http://www.belvederericcione.com/en/index.htm