Ciao Italia. Buongiorno.

Like Hannibal, we've crossed the Alps and made it to Italy.

We started out in the morning just below the summit of the Izoard as the sun came up and imparted a golden glow to the surrounding peaks. A chilly start demanded all the warm clothing to be worn. 15km down hill then turn left and ride past the quaint old 13th century fort Queyras, perched on a mound in the middle of a valley. Nice spot for a photo, at which point I found myself off the rear and having to chase for quite a while.

After a further 10km or so we turned onto the lower slopes of the Col d'Agnel to settle in for the last of the big climbs.

It was indeed a big day, reaching the highest altitude of the ride at 2744 metres. A brute of a climb which, although not one of the cycling monuments,  rates in my mind up there with the Col du Tourmalet and the Mont Ventoux in terms of difficulty. Long, at times 9% gradient and howling winds added to that difficulty. At one moment like a kick in the tail then round a corner and blown to a standstill. I had to unclip a pedal once when blown near the edge to save a rather long fall down a steep slope. But, after nearly two hours (including photo stops) we crested the summit and gazed, like Hannibal and several other notables (see below) must have done.

The sun kisses the tops of the mountains surrounding our stay at Ferme de l'Izoard. Grey skies could be ominous!

Not far below our overnight stay at Ferme de l'izzard was the 13th century fort Chateau Queyras

Beautiful valley above Molines de Queyras

Dougy from Montana powers up and away from Molines de Queyras

This is the spot where historians more or less agree that Hannibal crossed the Alps, along with Caesar and a bunch of other less notables.

Before this rock passed: the soldiers of Hannibal, the legions of Caesar, the knight without fear, a couples of Dukes, the Marshal of France and the troops of Phillip of Spain.

Johno, Richard, Christine and Mari pose  in front of that rock

The top of the Col d'Agnelo was reached after a long, hard climb. The wind nearly blew us over and the rain bucketed down moments later.

Pat smiling atop the descent of the Col d'Agnel. Sadly he crashed a little while later and required stitches to the elbow.

This is the descent from the Col d'Agnelo, looking into Italy (just before the rain)

And so at last we made it into Costigliole di Saluzzo and our fabulous hotel at the Castello Rossi - a red castle of course, perched on a hill overlooking the town. Hills on the left is where we came from and flat lands to the right is where we are headed.

Courtyard of our hotel the Castill Rossi.

The descent was marred by heavy rain, cold and strong winds. We regrouped at a little cafe to drink coffee, have a sandwich and wait for the weather to clear. Eventually, four of us decided to ride the remainder of the way as quite a few wanted to take the vehicle to the finish in Costigliole di Saluzzo. Off we went on wet roads but soon the weather cleared and we had a great run in, beating the car back in the process. A fabulous old castle was to be our home for the night.

A shortish 85km today and much of it flat before the first real rest day. Counting tomorrow, fifteen days of riding on the trot and covering 1500km approx with 27000 metres of climbing!