By: Peter Camburn, Interactive Art Director, RevZilla.com

This year, TeamZilla was invited to attend Dainese and AGV's 3rd annual Italian Legendary Tour (ILT) held September 7 through 11. The ILT is a 3-day excursion through the Italian countryside with legends of motorcycle racing such as Giacomo Agostini, Marco Lucchinelli, Carl Fogarty and Marco Simoncelli. RevZilla, together with other Dainese/AGV dealers from around the world, motorcycle press from a handful of countries, 15 winners of Dainese's ILT contest, and a stable of bad-ass bikes, carved up over 1000 kilometers of Italian mountain roads from Vicenza to Torino.

Beginning The ILT

Day 1 began at Dainese headquarters. Matt, Nick, and Anthony started their tour on a Benelli TNT Sport EVO, Honda CB1000R and a Benelli TRE 1130K. Riders on the tour were able to share bikes among their group giving them the opportunity to ride a few different bikes throughout trip.

Former World Champion Marco Lucchinelli and four-time World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty accompanied riders at the start of the trip. Marco Lucchinelli would be there for the entire trip from Vicenza to Torino. What a guy.

Romolini and I were driving a Peugeot drop-top acting as a chase vehicle, equipment carrier, and on-road camera vehicle. A short Dainese Italian Legendary Tour film documenting the ride has been released on RevZilla's YouTube channel.

The first stop on the tour was Pasubio Memorial, a memorial for soldiers who died in WWI. Pasubio Memorial was a short break about 50 kilometers into the 250 kilometer day. Our next stop would be lunch at Lake Garda.

Ristorante Al Forte Alto, sitting on a hillside of Lake Garda, served a delicious buffet-style lunch, Prosecco, and espresso to tour riders. The views overlooking Lake Garda from this site were amazing. However, we were on a schedule, and before you knew it we were hitting the road en route to our final destination of Day 1, Boario Terme.

The Riding Continues

Day 2 started bright and early. By 8am riders were on their bikes headed to Lake Como for a light lunch. Day 2 was tough. Once you drive 50 switchbacks (of the hundreds we’d driven by this point), you've driven them all. As the driver on this trip, these Italian roads definitely wore me out. I think some of the riders were feeling whipped as well. A small price to pay to devour this challenging international pavement.

Arriving at Lake Como was beautiful. Lunch was being served at Aero Club Como, which sits at the center of the city, looking out on Lake Como. Giacomo Agostini, who joined the tour earlier in the day, was completely mobbed by fans. From young women to life-long fans, he spent most of his time having his photo taken with just about everyone. He handled the crowd like the legend that he is.

By 1:30pm, riders were back on their bikes headed to Day 2’s destination, Dal Pozzo Castle.

Simoncelli Rides the Final Leg

Marco Simoncelli and Giacomo Agostini joined the ILT Friday evening for dinner at Restaurant Verbana on Isola Superiore dei Pescatori, a small island in Lake Maggiore. Saturday, we would all hit the road for the final 295km.

Mattarone Mountain was the tour’s first stop of Day 3. Departing the mountain was awesome. Instead of chasing the ILT pack, we led the way down the mountain while Romolini filmed Simoncelli and Lucchinelli following us, with the entire ILT behind them. For me, this was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Day 3 was definitely a faster and more momentum filled ride. For a lot of riders, as well as for me driving, we were better at handling all the switchbacks, blind turns, and navigating ridiculously narrow and sweeping mountain roads. Plus, we were all looking forward to our final destination, Fiat Mirafiori in Torino, Italy.

The day’s lunch stop was at Menabrea Brewery in Biella. Menabrea is one of Italy’s most famous and highly acclaimed beer brands. No doubt, the beer was great. And prior to leaving Menabrea, we had an opportunity to interview Marco Simoncelli—that was very cool.

“Marco, if you could choose to be a Cowboy, Indian, or Ninja, what would you be?” Can you guess his answer? We asked Agostini the same question in our interview with him.

Final stops on the tour included Alenia Aeronautica, as well as a ride through downtown Torino where Simoncelli attracted tons of attention. The Italian Legendary Tour, led by police escort, arrived at their final destination, Fiat Mirafiori, just a little behind schedule Saturday evening.

We were thrilled to have been on such an amazing trip with some of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time. It was an amazing experience, and something none of us will forget.

RevZilla's Dainese ILT Links: