Each year the men’s pro cycling world has a single race day that crowns one rider as World Champion for bragging rights for the entire next year.

The winners of the race read as the Who’s Who of professional cycling. The location each year is different and has been hosted all around the world. The race has been hosted in Italy 13 times yet this was the first time Tuscany was chosen. Luckily for Lucca Curated, Lucca was chosen as the start as a nod to the cities celebration of 500 years since the walls were constructed.

The route in total was 272km, starting in the centre of Lucca, round the walls, then 106kms passing through the regions wine route via the commune of Montecarlo then a gruelling 10 laps of the city of Florence, each lap 16km…

It meant we could get up early in the morning, see the riders leave Lucca, race to Florence by train to catch the 10 laps and the finish…

What we and the riders didn’t expect was solid rain for the whole day.  We have never seen a day’s rain like it. But it actually gave the event a different feel. You really got to appreciate how intense pro cycling is, how hard these guys push themselves and how it’s really not all glitz and glamour. A lot of grit and determination was on show – flashing just metres past you at high speed….to be able to see the riders so close up in such tough conditions was really inspiring.

All in all it was a fantastic day, we were soaked through on a number of occasions only to find a venue to dry off and grab suitable Italian refreshments, the best being Florence Rugby Club close to the finish where a fantastic thin crust pizza and beer whilst watching laps 5-8 on the tv gave us respite from the rain….