2027 EDITION – COMING SOON
Sardinia - The Emerald Coast
More Than a Cycling Tour
A Week Between the Emerald Coast and the Islands of La Maddalena
Everyone knows the Costa Smeralda for Porto Cervo, the yachts, and the summer crowds. Almost nobody knows what sits ten minutes behind it: silent granite roads, cork oak forests stripped red at the trunk, Bronze Age giants' tombs, and a hinterland called Gallura that feels a hundred years older than the coast. This trip exists to ride both in one week, the famous emerald water and the wild hills nobody photographs, at the pace of a long lunch rather than a race.
We base the whole week on the Gulf of Arzachena, so there is no packing and unpacking, just riding. Mornings we roll out early while the roads are cool and empty, the support van always behind you and Rodolfo setting a pace that leaves plenty in the tank for the afternoon. The days on the bike are short and the coves, the villages, and the tables are long. We finish the week the only way that makes sense here, on a boat through the islands of La Maddalena.
Six Days From the Costa Smeralda to La Maddalena
DAY 1
Arrival on the Gulf
You land at Olbia and we drive you north to Cannigione, a fishing town on the Gulf of Arzachena where the water shifts from turquoise to deep green as the sun drops. After a bike fit and a gentle spin along the waterfront to shake the flight out of your legs, we open the week the right way: a long dinner on the terrace, a cold bottle of Vermentino di Gallura, and the whole Costa Smeralda laid out in front of you. Short first day. The real riding starts tomorrow.
DAY 2
The Emerald Coast
This is the coast the magazines photograph, and it is even better from the saddle. We roll north from Cannigione through Baja Sardinia and out to Porto Cervo, then drop down to the coves, Romazzino, Cala di Volpe, Liscia Ruja, where pink granite meets water so clear it looks lit from below. The road tips up and down all morning, never for long, always with the sea on your shoulder. Lunch is right on the water, feet almost in it, before an easy spin home.
DAY 3
The Ancient Hills of Gallura
Ten minutes inland the yachts vanish and Sardinia turns wild and old. We climb away from the coast into the granite hills above Arzachena, past the Tomba dei Giganti Coddu Vecchiu, a giants' tomb standing here since the Bronze Age, and up through cork oak forests toward the artist village of San Pantaleo in its bowl of granite spires. The reward at the top is a proper Gallurese lunch: zuppa cuata, aged pecorino, and a shot of mirto to finish. It is the biggest climbing day of the week, and still short enough to be pure pleasure.
DAY 4
Capo d'Orso and the Bear Rock
An easy, rolling day along the northern shore toward Palau, where the wind has carved a granite headland into the unmistakable shape of a bear, Capo d'Orso, a landmark for sailors for three thousand years. We trace the coast with the islands of La Maddalena floating just offshore, then turn inland to the old center of Arzachena for a slow lunch. Nothing hard today. Legs up for tomorrow, because tomorrow we leave the bikes behind.
DAY 5
The Islands of La Maddalena
We swap the bikes for a boat and spend the day among the 62 islands and islets of the La Maddalena archipelago, a national park of granite and impossibly clear water. We cross to Caprera to see Garibaldi's white house and tomb, drift past the protected pink sand of Budelli's Spiaggia Rosa, and drop anchor off a hidden cove for a long lunch and a longer swim. It is the day everyone remembers. Bring a towel and nothing else.
DAY 6
One Last Morning on the Water
A slow final morning: a short optional spin along the gulf for anyone whose legs are still asking for it, a last espresso on the Cannigione waterfront, and a warm seada dripping with honey to send you off. We handle the transfer back to Olbia whenever your flight leaves. You go home with sea salt still on your skin and a list of roads you already want to ride again.
The Man Behind the Roads
Rodolfo Massi won a stage at the Tour de France in the Pyrenees. He won a stage at the Giro d'Italia. He wore the King of the Mountains jersey - the polka dots - through the same cols you'll ride on this trip.
He's not a tour operator who studied a map. He's a former professional who spent his career on these exact roads. He knows where the gradient kicks, where the wind hits, where to stop for the view that nobody else knows about. And he knows something most guides don't: how to make a climb feel like a gift instead of a punishment.
Today, Rodolfo takes a handful of people each year through the mountains that shaped his life. Not to race. Not to suffer. To feel what it's like to ride roads that were built for something extraordinary - with someone who lived it.
Massi's "Service Course" Treatment
We handle every logistical detail so your mind remains completely free.
Note: flights, medical insurance, room upgrades and personal expenses are not covered.
Worried You're Not Fast Enough?
Read This
Every single person who books this trip asks some version of the same question:
"Can I actually do this?"
Yes. Here's why.
This is not a race. There is no pace to hold and no group to keep up with. Rodolfo has guided riders of every level through these cols - from people who train five days a week to people who ride on weekends when the weather is nice.
The support van follows the group every day. If you hit a wall, you can still enjoy the view in the van without judgment. If you want an e-bike for the bigger days, several guests choose exactly that every trip.
The only thing that matters is that you enjoy riding. If you're worried about being a burden, that worry itself is proof that you're the kind of person this trip was made for: someone who cares about the experience and the people around them.
the investment
6 days across Sardinia with Rodolfo Massi. Luxury accommodation, all dinners, airport transfers, full ride support, and mechanical service included.
SARDINIA
2027 Edition — Coming Soon
6 days
5 nights
Costa Smeralda to La Maddalena
Limited to 12 spots
your piece of mind
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