We woke to beautiful views out our bedroom window. Blue skies!

First to breakfast (again….people seem to sleep in), we packed and rolled down the hill out out of this interesting little country.

We quickly realised that our descent was the ascent route for the upcoming Tour de France. The freshly laid new road surface being the biggest clue, along with supporting signage. kg was a much nicer road than our previous day ascent.

We remained on the new surface for 30 km and it was so smooth. In places though, due to the heat of the sun, it had partly liquified, sticking to our tyres, adding more rolling resistance on the hills.

Hills and heat would be part of my days summary. It got hot with little shade reprieve.

The climbing graph. You can see the initial descent but we then went into two five km length climbs. The longest climb of the day started around 25 km, intensifying, reaching to top at 66 km. That’s a lot of climbing on a loaded bike in the heat.

Our first climb were through the local hills including Chiesanuova. The Tour will pass through as you can tell by the road, and the sign with the older men.

It was a nice area, quiet of traffic, lovely views.

The second 5 km climb took is to San Leo perched high up that rock. It is an old fortress town 600 metres above sea level.

It is a nice little village, very quiet, minimal tourists at this time of day. We stopped at a small cafe for refreshments including filling up our bidons. Other cyclists cruised through, many grabbing a quick espresso before cycling off.

We rolled down the hill, this angle showing a more dramatic cliff, with chunks having broken away.

After 30 km of nice road seal, we were on strada bianchi, white gravel. This was a bit cooler.

But alas as has happened many times this trip, we hit a road block. Not one we could sneak through either as there was a gaping hole caused by flood damage. So back we went to find an alternative.

Onto the long climb of the day. It went on and on with sections up to 11 percent. The heat was quite draining but we drank water regularly and were otherwise fairly comfortable. Our tops were soaked in sweat.

The road was a major route through these new Tuscan hills but overall fairly quiet. There was the one crazy bus driver….

Much of the hills remain undeveloped and fully bushed out. Others are cleared and farmland.

We enjoyed the cooling descent and headed off towards our overnight Anghiari, a place made famous in latter years by Leonardo da Vinci, in a lost mural, depicting a mythical battle between the republics of Florence and Milan.

Boasting an incredible old history with buildings dating back to at least the 12th century.

It is quite imposing as you ride towards it. This,road seemed to go on and on and right up the middle of the town. Our accomodation was just to the right of the road you can see.

Our view from the stairwell looking towards the old town over the roof tops.

We crossed over that long straight road, where the earlier photo was taking lower down.

We wandered towards the old village with this guy pointing towards tomorrows route direction.

The old village is steep, with lots of narrow alley ways, cute arches and flowers, interpretation panels explaining the history of many of the old structures.

We searched for food but as is common 7 pm was the opening time here too. We went to a restaurant boasting typical Tuscan fare…and he offered us a table at 6.45 pm so that sealed the deal!

It was outside at the top of the hill, adjacent to the long road, and we just kept staring and thinking….we made it!

I have made today’s map smaller to show where we are relatively within Italy. Not that far from Rome or Florence, but our direction is to traverse the width of Italy via Siena and Piombino.

It does show that we traversed green hilly areas having climbed over 1600 metres, 99 km. The next two days are similar.

Thanks for reading 😊💪❣️