Louis Latour Agencies

Banfi Team at Eroica Britannia

06 September 2019

On 18th August we took part in Eroica Britannia 2019 as the Banfi Poggio alle Mura team. Castello Banfi are a supporter of the Eroica in Montalcino, Chianti and now the UK. The Poggio alle Mura team was a mixture of Louis Latour Agencies’ staff, customers and journalists. We also had a stand at the lunch stop with tasting samples of La Pettegola and Col di Sasso.  

L’Eroica is an event that was founded in Tuscany is 1997 by Giancarlo Brocci. Brocci admired the values of past cycling and wanted to connect people to how much it had influenced Italian culture. Over the next 20 years this has progressed into events held all over the world. In 2008 four friends took part in L’Eroica and decided to recreate it in the Peak District. Eroica Britannia has grown into the largest event in the global family with 4,000 riders taking part in 2018.

Eroica Britannia is a 100-mile-long cycle event which must be ridden on pre-1987 road bikes. These bikes allow riders to appreciate the serenity of slow travel and to connect with the bike. It is a non-competitive race and there is no first place as the last rider home wins. It was decided this year to create a small one-off event called ‘The 500’ which limited the riders to only 500 people.

 

The Ride

On Saturday the bikes were collected from Glory Days and the team went for a short practise before the evening meal. It was an early night before Sunday dawned and the event started at 8am.

The route started in Bakewell and began by passing through the parkland of Chatsworth House before crossing the River Derwent and entering the village of Beeley. It was then a 3 mile climb up onto Beeley Moor. After crossing the moorland, the riders then descended into Derwent Valley where there was a stop with light refreshments.

The following climb was particularly challenging up an old railway track to Middleton Top. However, afterwards was a peaceful cycle along the limestone plateau of White Peak. This led to the lunch stop at Monyash, where we had a Banfi table with La Pettegola and Col di Sasso open for sampling. Lunch was provided by The Lambton Larder and was particularly delicious.

After lunch the ride continued with a gentle uphill to the main road through Hartington and over the border into Staffordshire. The route looped northwards to Longnor and crossed the valley of the River Dove. Outside The Quiet Woman pub was another refreshment stop complete with a vintage ice-cream van!

Across the main road again dropping down to the village of Chelmorton before the route turned to onto the main road for the steep descent into the valley of the River Wye. This brought riders to the start of the Monsal Trail, a traffic-free former railway line. The trail was the last 9 miles of the ride and involved several tunnels and the Monsal Viaduct.

The end of the ride was back in Bakewell at Thornbridge Brewery’s Peakender Festival.

Our riders finished at the festival with a well-earned beer! Congratulations team!