Forte dei Marmi to Garfagnana — The Cipollaio Pass

This is the great cycling challenge of Versilia — a full crossing of the Apuan Alps from sea level at Forte dei Marmi to the Garfagnana valley on the other side, via the Cipollaio pass at 916 metres. It is a route that rewards suffering with extraordinary scenery: marble quarries at impossible angles, tunnel descents through living rock, and a dramatic valley drop into the ancient chestnut forests of Garfagnana. From Forte dei Marmi, the route heads inland through Seravezza and begins the long ascent via Ruosina (100m) to Levigliani (582m) — the village perched at the edge of the marble world, where quarry roads branch off and white marble dust coats everything in a surreal pallor. Above Levigliani, the gradient bites, the scenery becomes lunar, and the quarry machinery — enormous white trucks carrying tonnes of Carrara marble — passes at uncomfortably close range. The Cipollaio tunnel (1km long, dark, narrow, cold — bring lights and a jacket) marks the crossing point. Emerging on the far side is a revelation: the green Garfagnana valley suddenly appears below, the chestnut forests a violent contrast to the white world behind.