From Florence to the Vallombrosa Abbey and back

The route starts symbolically just south of Florence, from the Cycling Museum in Ponte a Ema named after Gino Bartali. It is from these very places, which gave birth to the cycling champion, that you start pedaling toward Grassina. You are immediately plunged into the atmosphere of Florentine Chianti and, after a series of ups and downs, reach San Polo in Chianti, an ideal place for an initial, brief restorative stop.

After San Polo, the road changes character and climbs steeply until reaching the 164-feet/500-meter Poggio della Croce, then descending toward the Valdarno to Figline. Here, a stop in the typically Tuscan piazza allows you to take a breather before the real challenge of the day. That’s when you set out on a long ascent of about 11 miles or 18 kilometers that, from the peak of 427 feet or 130 meters of Figline, entice you up to an altitude of 3117 feet or 950 meters. Up to Reggello, the gradients remain manageable and it is highly recommended that you stop in the village to visit the Masaccio Museum of Sacred Art, where you can admire the precious Triptych of San Giovenale. Once past Reggello, the last 3.7 miles or 6 kilometers become steep, with average gradients above 8%. The climb enters the Vallombrosa forest, a green lung that provides pleasant coolness in the summer months. Your exertion needs to persist until just before the splendid Vallombrosa Abbey, the Benedictine complex founded by Saint John Gualbert that appears shrouded in the silence of centuries-old woods and is well worth a visit to admire the church and ancient monastic buildings.

Continue up and down until you reach the highest elevation of the tour (34456 feet or 1050 meters) at the Consuma Pass. From here, the road begins to descend, at first gently then more steeply, until you get to Stia, where you are greeted by the characteristic Piazza Tanucci. Now it’s time to rise up again following the upper Arno valley, still surrounded by greenery, until you reach the Croce a Mori Pass. At this point, the hardest part is behind you.

Now descend to the Sieve valley, which you follow to Pontassieve. The village, with its interesting medieval layout, offers a great photo opportunity on the striking Medici Bridge. Having passed Pontassieve, you just have the last short climbs to face. The last treat, now on the outskirts of Ponte a Ema, is the Oratory of Santa Caterina delle Ruote, containing a recently restored cycle of frescoes from the 1300s (we recommend inquiring about how to visit in advance). Just a few hundred feet more and you get to the Gino Bartali Cycling Museum and the conclusion of your ride.

This route is part of the project Strade Zitte (Silent Roads), a name inspired by a song by Paolo Conte. These are “collector’s routes” for quality cycling tourism along secondary country and mountain roads, away from the rev of engines. See details on the https://turbolento.net/ website.