It is easy: from late spring to summer. The travel window for these high mountains is very narrow, just before June and until the beginning of September.

Towards the extremities, the weather is less stable. So we use to organize our trips inside the 'safe' window, as the weather is more stable. Facing bad weather on a mountain ride is not pleasant: it means a drop in temperature of several degrees, and if you are on the Stelvio at 2700 metres when it happens... well, let's put it this way: it's no fun.

Some days with rain can happen in the core of the good season, but if you go towards the beginning or end of the season, the possibility of a long bad weather increases dramatically, making, not just a single day, but the whole trip an epic experience, but one that you would never want to make.

The Alps are large and encompass areas that Italian cyclists are used to dividing into very different areas: we call the mountains in the western belt, enclosed mostly in Lombardy, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, the Alps, while the Dolomites are further east and in the territory of Trentino and Veneto.

The two areas are considered very different in many respects, socially, economically, touristically and in terms of language. But cycling is also very different. Generalising, the Alps make us imagine very long climbs: starting from around 1000m, one reaches very high altitudes, such as the Stelvio (2750m) or the Gavia (2650m).

Therefore, doing more than one climb a day is not for everyone. The Dolomites have shorter, but constantly steep (the 9% rule) climbs. A famous area for cycling is Valtellina and its main town is Bormio. We often use it as a base for our weeks in the Alps.

Depending on the trip, we suggest either Milan MXP or Bergamo BY.

Asphalt is as good as mountain asphalt can be. The frost of winter slowly damages the asphalt. There is nothing critical. Repaving takes place quite often.

Traffic must be taken into account, especially when travelling up some iconic climbs like the Stelvio, which is very popular with motorists and motorcyclists, or when riding from Bormio to Livigno.