Giro delle Terre Brigasche

Giro delle Terre Brigasche is a gravel randonnée in the Maritime Alps above the Ligurian Riviera, run by Blu di Mare Circolo Parasio ASD, a cycling club from Imperia. Billed as Monster Gravel, it is not a race: riders carry a brevet card, pass checkpoints and ride in complete self-sufficiency, and the only list at the end is of those who finished.

The route explores the Terre Brigasche, an area of alpine villages, old fortifications and high pastures that straddles Liguria, Piedmont and France, on military roads, mule tracks and long gravel tracks with only short sections of quiet tarmac. Past editions dropped into France through the Val Roya, followed the old salt road and spent a long stretch above 2,000 metres before climbing back into Italy over the Passo del Tanarello.

It is a hard, selective day out for riders who like their gravel without compromise, with views that swing between the sea and the mountains. The organisers frame it as a way to celebrate these alpine valleys, their traditions and slow travel, where the time on the clock matters far less than the journey.