Tafi-LAGO DI SUVIANA-Route by StepH

The Lago di Suviana is a reservoir located in the Appenino Pistoiese, the mountain range north of Pistoia. To get from Lamporecchio to Pistoia, we first need to cross the Montalbano hill. This time we do this via the narrow and steep road through Cecina, Ca'al Vento, and Baco. On these roads, the former professional cyclist Franco Ballerini had an accident during a car race on February 7, 2010. Franco was a good friend and teammate of Andrea Tafi during the glorious Mapei and Roubaix days.

Crossing the busy Pistoia is no pleasure, be careful not to get lost in the countless alleys, and therefore follow the main ring road (direction Modena), which is included in this route (take a detailed map or GPS!). But once past here, it soon goes uphill towards the l'Aquerino nature reserve (11 km of strenuous climbing!): the Monte Pozzo!

After that follows an undulating tour on a very beautiful red asphalt road through a green river and forest landscape on the border of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, until you reach the village of Badi. From here, you descend to the Lago di Suviana!

After a winding detour, you come to the main road towards Pistoia, steadily slightly uphill and finally through the well-lit 1.1 km long Signorino Tunnel.

A little further right towards Sammommé, known for its Muro di Sammommé, a terrible climb with extremely steep curves that have challenged Giro d'Italia cyclists many times before. Fortunately, we are (carefully) riding downhill on this chunk.

The annoying Pistoia awaits us again, we try to bypass the busy streets a bit and soon we have the Montalbano in sight again as we climb the north side of San Baronto, a nice conclusion to a king stage!