Many of the world’s top pro cyclists live in Italian and Swiss Lake District
A good number of pro road cyclists have made their home here, lured by the mild weather, the foothills of the Italian and Swiss Alps and the rolling roads down to the lakes. Vincenzo Nibali, Filippo Ganna, Fabio Aru, Diego Ulissi, Domenico Pozzovivo, Alberto Bettiol, Enrico Gasparotto, Oscar Freire, Michael Rogers, Candel Evans, the team BikeExchange when in Europe ...
It’s no surprise that many pros train here and call it home. The area around Lake Maggiore, Lake Varese, Lake Lugano is their playground: challenging climbs and deserted back roads.
With a huge number of roads suitable for cyclists and a climate that’s mild from April to October Italian and Swiss Lake District is a perfect location for training. It’s like one big playground here, even after living here for a few years there’s always a new road to be explored.
It’s virtually impossible to do a 100 km ride on back roads with less than 1,000 - 1,500 metres climbing. Mix all those factors together and it’s a great place to train.
The area also has good communications. Take a look at How to get here.
A ‘home away from home’ for Australian Sport
The Australian professional road race cycling team team BikeExchange has a base at Gavirate on the shores of Lake Varese where the Australian Institute of Sport have the European Training Centre, and another one in Brunello, a village close to Varese where is located the storehouse.
It has definitely become a second home for so many Australian riders for a large part of the year and most of the BikeExchange staff are based in the area as well.
You might at any moment see a famous cyclist ride past during your cycling holiday
Join LNIBT and escape to a beautiful, tranquil village near the town of Varese or close to Lake Maggiore, across densely wooded hills, at times through tiny and secluded villages, some with cobblestones paths, others with roads wide enough for one car only, where you might at any moment see a famous cyclist ride past.
Don't ride side to side with other cyclists
The drivers are used to see many cyclists here and generally they are patient and polite. However we suggest that you don't ride side by side with other cyclists, but in a row.
The drivers can become angry. In other countries it is legal to ride side by side but we don't do that here!
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