There is a particular quality of light on the Val d’Orcia just before dawn – a soft, golden pallor that seems to hold its breath – and on Sunday, 31st May 2026, it will once again fall upon the shoulders of those who have come, often from great distances, to pedal the white gravel roads of Eroica Montalcino. One arrives from far away, but then everyone rides in the same manner: the day begins early, on the strade bianche that ribbon through the Tuscan countryside, when the light is still low upon the hills, and then, kilometre after kilometre, the road itself dictates the rhythm – the dust, the climbs, the stretches where one slows down, the refreshment points where one lingers longer than intended.
The routes of Eroica Montalcino do not merely pass through the territory; they carry you inside it. You will pass through Buonconvento, San Giovanni d’Asso, Montisi, Trequanda, San Quirico d’Orcia, Bagno Vignoni, Pienza, Torrita di Siena, and Asciano. These are not merely points along a trajectory but places where one enters and exits, where one stops to eat and to talk. Those arriving for the first time discover that here, one does not pedal against the clock. The routes are different, but the spirit is the same: some tackle the long distance as a journey, others choose an intermediate distance to find their own rhythm, still others take the time to stop often. Fatigue is not something to be avoided but rather the very means by which one inhabits the landscape.
Those who return every year know these roads intimately. They know where the climb lengthens, where the vista opens up, where it is worth pausing for a few extra minutes. And each time, they find something different: the light, the season, the people. Over the years, the international presence has grown considerably. For the tenth edition, international registrants represent 36% of the total, a rising trend that speaks to a widening participation. Alongside Italy, represented countries thus far include Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, and Latvia. It is a clear sign of how the white roads of Montalcino have become, over the years, a point of reference for those who arrive from afar and choose to live here an experience that transcends the mere act of pedalling. And so, upon these same roads, they will return on Sunday, 31st May 2026, for the tenth edition of Eroica Montalcino – not to conquer the clock, but to remember, in the dust and the climb and the long golden light, what cycling once was, and perhaps, in a small corner of Tuscany, still is.
