Last weekend, thousands took to the sun-kissed routes of Tuscany for the annual L'Eroica bike ride. But if encountering large numbers of Lycra-clad cyclists is your idea of hell, fear not: the event has rather grander ambitions when it comes to road-worthy style.
The brainchild of one man, Giancarlo Brocci, L'Eroica was founded in 1997 as a way to rediscover this age-old pursuit, reconnecting people with Italy's heritage in the process. The popularity of the event has since seen it expand to countries across the world and you can now partake everywhere from South Africa to Japan at various times of the year, with each event adding its own local flavour.
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