Castello di Pollenzo and Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
327 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 07
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Bra it runs 327 km to Bra; allow about 6 h 07 of riding. On the way it passes Canelli and Asti Spumante, Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe, Castello di Racconigi and Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Castello di Pollenzo
The village of Pollenzo was a Roman town, Pollentia, long before it was a Savoy estate, and in 402 a Roman army under Stilicho fought Alaric's Visigoths nearby in one of the last great battles of the Western Empire. Today the name means food. The castle and the neo-Gothic agricultural complex built around it by King Carlo Alberto in the nineteenth century, the Agenzia, now house the University of Gastronomic Sciences, founded by the Slow Food movement, which was born in nearby Bra. The estate is part of the UNESCO-listed Residences of the Royal House of Savoy.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castello di Pollenzo is where the day begins. Next is Canelli and Asti Spumante.
2. Canelli and Asti Spumante
Under the streets of Canelli runs a second town, made of brick tunnels and vaulted galleries cut into the hillside, where for well over a century sparkling wine has rested in the cool and the dark. The locals call them the underground cathedrals, and they are the reason this small Piedmontese town is part of the UNESCO listing of the vineyard landscapes of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. Canelli was one of the places where Italian sparkling wine was pioneered in the nineteenth century, using the local Moscato grape, and the town's big wine houses still welcome visitors into their cellars by appointment.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Canelli and Asti Spumante comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe.
3. Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe
Barolo the village has a few hundred inhabitants and a castle; Barolo the wine has a worldwide reputation built on the Nebbiolo grape and on the peculiar soils and slopes of these hills south of Alba. Around the village, the Langhe rise in steep ridges striped with vineyards, each hill crowned with a village, a castle or a church tower: La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, Novello. In 2014 UNESCO listed the vineyard landscapes of the Langhe, Roero and Monferrato for the way centuries of winemaking have shaped every slope, every row, every cellar.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 79 km into the recorded legs you reach Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe. Next is Castello di Racconigi.
4. Castello di Racconigi
Racconigi is a small town on the plain south of Turin, in Piedmont, surrounded by fields of maize and rice and lines of poplars. It is dominated by its castle, a grand residence of the House of Savoy, which ruled Piedmont and later Italy. Originally a medieval fortress, it was transformed over the centuries into a palace, with Baroque and neoclassical façades, and surrounded by a vast park with lakes, woods and a farm. The castle is part of the UNESCO-listed Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, inscribed in 1997.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castello di Racconigi, about halfway. Next is Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.
5. Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi
On the southern edge of Turin, at the end of a long straight avenue lined with trees, a bronze stag stands on the dome of a palace that looks like a star dropped on the plain. The Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi was built from 1729 by the architect Filippo Juvarra for King Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy as a hunting lodge, though the word lodge hardly does justice to its grand halls, frescoed ceilings and sprawling wings. It is part of the World Heritage Site of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, inscribed in 1997.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 327 km.
Leg by leg
Castello di Pollenzo to Canelli and Asti Spumante
Castello di Pollenzo → Canelli and Asti Spumante is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Canelli and Asti Spumante to Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe
Canelli and Asti Spumante → Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe to Castello di Racconigi
Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe → Castello di Racconigi is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Castello di Racconigi to Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi
Castello di Racconigi → Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi to back through Castello di Racconigi
Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi → back through Castello di Racconigi is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Castello di Racconigi to back through Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe
back through Castello di Racconigi → back through Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe to back through Canelli and Asti Spumante
back through Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe → back through Canelli and Asti Spumante is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Canelli and Asti Spumante to Castello di Pollenzo
back through Canelli and Asti Spumante → Castello di Pollenzo is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.