GeoGravel Tuscany: a journey to discover the 'Strade Grigie'
After a life spent winning everything on asphalt, in recent years Paolo Bettini has discovered the joy of pedalling on gravel, especially on the many kilometres of "Strade Grigie" that run through his land, the Val di Cecina. From this passion has stemmed the idea of the first "GeoGravel Tuscany", a great event for gravel lovers that will take place over two days, on 1 and 2 June in Pomarance (PI).
As many as four routes to choose from will range from the 45-km Short Track and the 90-km Medium Track to the 120-km Long Track, up to the 250-km course of the Ultra - a real challenge for the most daring riders. It will not be a race, but an opportunity to share the pleasure of cycling together in a unique territory with other people, discovering the wonders of the warm heart of Tuscany. There will therefore be no rankings and the start will be 'French style', to embrace the gravel spirit as much as possible, which is based on sharing the emotions of a journey, much more than on performance.
Paolo Bettini, aka ‘il Grillo’, came up with the idea for this event during the pandemic, as he says: "During the lockdown, when circulation was limited, I dedicated myself to exploring my surroundings, discovering a whole world of roads and trails running through the woods, and realised that I had a real playground for gravel riders at my fingertips. Travelling the length and breadth of the Geothermal hills, between Chianti and the Costa Etrusca, I collected over 650 km of tracks. From there it emerged the idea to create something that could promote this wonderful territory, its iron stones, its 'Strade Grigie’” .