6 ways to nail your European cycling vacation with Sportive Breaks

From the mountains of Colorado to the streets of Portland, there’s no end of unique cycling experiences to be had in the United States. But can we, in any good conscience, really say that America is the home of cycling? 

There’s no getting away from the fact that the spiritual birthplace of bike riding, and especially bike racing, is Europe. Whether it’s the Grand Tours or the Cobbled Classics, multi-day rides or legendary one-day Gran Fondos, the greatest, most celebrated cycling experiences are to be found on the other side of the Atlantic. 

And it’s not just the big events: when it comes to history, architecture, food, drink, geography and even pure cycling culture, Europe has all sorts of elements that we just don’t have here at home.

But getting all the way over there and sorting out the best places to ride is such a difficult business, right? Wrong! We’ve teamed up with Sportive Breaks – one of America’s premier, dedicated cycle holiday operators – to present you with half a dozen awesome reasons why you need to ride in Europe, and some great purpose-made cycling vacations to help you do it. 

Why Sportive Breaks?

The beauty about going with Sportive Breaks isn’t just their fantastic choice of great routes and rides; they can also help with all the other ingredients that go into having a perfect vacation experience.

For example, with Sportive Breaks, you’ll be staying in hotels situated in the best and most convenient locations. You’ll have all your necessary airport transfers taken of with a dedicated holiday rep to look after you. You’ll be guaranteed highly sought-after entries to these legendary events. And, on your rides, you’ll benefit from private feed stops and mechanical support throughout.

And if the potential hassle of getting your bike across the ocean is putting you off booking a European cycling getaway, don’t let that stop you. The helpful team at Sportive Breaks can even help you arrange the perfect pedal partner on your European adventure with top-level road and gravel bikes – even machines that might be an upgrade on what you have at home!

Reason 1: The Grand Tour experience – Vuelta a Espana 

Whatever else the US can offer, it absolutely can’t provide a true Grand Tour experience – only the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana can lay claim to that title. So if you want to really feel like America’s current Grand Tour heroes, the 2024 Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson or 2023 Vuelta champ Sepp Kuss, you need to head to Europe.

Sportive Breaks has tour options that accompany all three of the legendary races but we’re going to focus on the last of the trio. The Vuelta a Espana in late August is arguably the greatest showcase of European cycling, with great food, great weather, great racing and a welcoming cycling culture. 

As an official 2024 Vuelta a Espana tour operator, Sportive Breaks can provide VIP hospitality for all 21 stages and also offers a 10-day Vuelta a Espana tour, where you might even get to see Sepp retain his winner’s red jersey!

Reason 2: Unique cycling history – the Strade Bianche

Just as music fans from across the world feel the need to make a pilgrimage to Nashville or Memphis, any cyclist worth their salt needs to ride on the roads – and sometimes the gravel tracks – that were the birthplace of modern cycle racing. No event better connects its participants more directly with that sense of heritage than the Gran Fondo Strade Bianche.

The Strade Bianche began life as the ‘L’Eroica Gran Fondo’, where riders on vintage bikes could recreate the heroic early days of road racing. Now an elite race in its own right – with a complementing event for amateur riders – the Strade Bianche is named after the dusty white gravel roads in Tuscany, Italy, that make up roughly a third of its route. 

Sportive Breaks, which is an Official Premium Tour Operator for the 2025 event, offers the perfect weekend experience, with four-star hotel accommodation; a ride with Giro d’Italia stage winner Andrea Ferrigato to watch the elite races on Saturday; and then full entry and support as you take on the Strade Bianche Gran Fondo on the Sunday.

Reason 3: Train like a pro – Mallorca  

It’s possible to get your training miles anywhere in the world, and the US isn’t short of ideal training terrain. But ask any European elite or even club cyclist where’s the best place for a training camp, and the chances are they will name one place: Mallorca.

With its great food, great climbs, rolling roads and picturesque villages, this Balearic Island is the go-to venue for riders wanting to get early-season mileage in their legs. In fact, such is its popularity that Sportive Breaks offers a range of options, including a full week in Mallorca or entry into the fearsome Mallorca 312 Gran Fondo. (Yes, that’s 312km – 195 miles!)

And with flights now heading direct to Mallorca from New York, getting there has never been easier!

Reason 4: Hit the Classic cobbles – Paris-Roubaix

Sportive Breaks offers exciting trips to a huge selection of the fabled cobbled Classics in France, Holland and Belgium – as well as the Classics further south in Spain and Italy. But if you’re going to take on a Classic, you might as well take on the toughest and most famous one-day race of them all: Paris-Roubaix.

Think of the iconic images of fatigued pro riders with their faces caked in soot-like dust, and it’s almost certain that photo was taken at the end of Paris-Roubaix. You can get a taste of just what those riders went through with entry into the Paris-Roubaix Gran Fondo, which will take you through the hardest sectors of bone-shaking cobbles before finishing in the legendary Roubaix velodrome.

There are three distances to choose from, starting at 75km (47 miles), and – once you’ve recovered – you can spend the following day watching the pros suffer on the race itself. 

Reason 5: Visit the home of bike racing – France

Think of bike racing and there is one race that stands out beyond all others – the Tour de France. Of course, taking part in ‘Le Tour’ is a privilege only granted to around 200 of the world’s best bike riders each year, but that doesn’t mean mere mortals can’t get a taste of it.

Sportive Breaks is the number one tour operator for the Etape du Tour: one of the world’s toughest amateur cycling events where participants ride the exact same route as one stage of the Tour de France, albeit on a different day to the actual race. With the best travel packages, airport transfers, hotels in the best places, guaranteed Etape du Tour entry and dedicated on-ride support, you’ll feel just like one of the pros.

But France is about so much more than just Le Tour and Sportive Breaks has a massive selection of other French adventures, including one of our favourites: La Marmotte – one of the world’s longest-running and most respected Gran Fondos. It’s an event that is guaranteed to leave you on a high – literally – with a final ascent of the iconic Alp d’Huez.

Reason 6: Represent the USA – UCI Gran Fondo World Championships

We’ve spoken a lot about following in the wheel tracks of the past legends of cycling, but how would you like the opportunity to make a little history yourself and wear the fabled stars and stripes in competition?

The UCI Gran Fondo World Championships – to be held this year in Aalborg, Denmark – is the pinnacle of amateur Gran Fondo racing and offers riders from around the world the opportunity to compete for the Rainbow Jersey in both the Time Trial and Gran Fondo Road Race. 

You do have to qualify first, but qualification is not as tricky as you might think: all you have to do is enter one of the qualifying events that form part of the 2023 and 2024 UCI Gran Fondo World Series and finish in the top 25% of your age group. One qualifying event that might be of interest is the Cheaha Challenge Gran Fondo in Jacksonville this May.

If you can do that, and you want to represent the USA against a truly global field, Sportive Breaks has a trio of trip options that will help you arrive on the start line in the perfect condition. 

For more information about any of these once-in-a-lifetime cycling experiences, visit Sportive Breaks.