Challenging route for height difference, length, lack of flat stretches and initial route at night.

You leave the village in a southerly direction and you take the road of Ripa d’Orcia bending left at the crossroads at km 3.12. You continue until the ancient village of Vignoni Alto (km 3.85). You don’t cross the village but you go around it from the right, you pass the cemetery of Vignoni, you pass through the farm Tassinaie (km 5.1) until you reach Bagno Vignoni (km 60.3).
You don’t enter the village, but you have to turn left downhill and at km 5.8 you leave the road of Bagno Vignoni bending right with a U-turn to go down towards the Orcia river that you cross on a wooden footbridge built at a point where the valley narrows (km 6.1).

*** The pedestrian bridge over the Orcia has had the base of one of the pylons slightly damaged and procedures to make it safe are still in progress. At the date of opening of entries it is not yet possible to establish with certainty the route to cross the Orcia also because the alternative passage along the Cassia, has problems of safety ****
At km 6.37 you ignore the detour to the left that leads to the Cassia, you continue straight, you pass through the farm San Pietro (km 7.2) ignoring the road that leads to the Rocca d’Orcia and Castiglion d’Orcia. 

It skirts the area of Rocca d’Orcia (km 7.84) and Castiglion d’Orcia from below and then follows a stretch through the cultivated areas of the Val d’Orcia, mostly on dirt road. We pass through the farm San Giuseppe, Acqua Salsa keep left at the fork (km 14.24) taking the Strada del Pozzo that leads us to the Cassia near the village of Gallina (km 17). Go up the Cassia on the left for 200 meters until you reach the village and the refreshment point (km 17.2).

We retrace the stretch of Cassia and we leave it (km 17.7) bending slightly to the right and, arrived at the farm Passalacqua (km 18.5), we turn sharply left, we approach the Cassia again, we cross the river Vellora (km 19.2) and continue until the church of Briccole (old hospice) at km 19.8.

At km 20.2 you have to cross the provincial road of Banditone and go on passing a series of small fords and at km 21 you have to get on the road following the old route of the Cassia for some km until you reach the old post station of Ricorsi near the new route of the Cassia. (km 24.6, altitude 412).

At the old post office of Ricorsi (km 24.7) cross the Cassia (pay attention) and take a small road that runs parallel to the Cassia, with the Cassia on the right and the shore of the Formone torrent on the left. At La Bisarca (km 25.7) the route bends slightly to the left, approaching the stream that forms a bend and then you have to go under a viaduct (SP 478 to Radicofani) and you have to cross the stream (km 26.3).

You pass under the Cassia and you ride for a while along the river until you pass under the Cassia again (km 26.9) and you continue along the edge of the river until the farm San Giorgio (km 27.6) where you turn left approaching the SP 478 (km 27.9). At that point you have to turn right, instead of accessing the provincial road to Radicofani, and take the old dirt road of the Cassia.

It continues to climb until it meets again the provincial road for Radicofani at the point where the SP for Contigiano starts (locality Le Conie km 29.5 altitude 590). You follow the provincial road for Radicofani passing the crossroads of the SP 18 of the Amiata Mountain and you continue along the road for Radicofani leaving it at km 31.9 (665 m) where you turn right.

We continue to climb on a dirt road until km 33.7 (760 m) where we turn left and we go back on the road to Radicofani now near the village. Follow the road for about 500 m and then leave it to turn left and enter the village along the central Via Roma (km 34.7).

The stretch from Radicofani to Ponte a Rigo, all on dirt road, follows, in the North – South-East direction, the route of the ancient Via Cassia (which passed through Radicofani). It takes place on a very suggestive route made of pastures for sheep (once much more frequented) crossed by gullies while, behind, dominates the fortress of Radicofani. On the left ridge, in the distance you can see the structure of the astronomical observatory.

We start from the center of Radicofani, we go along Via Roma, we leave the gate and we follow a stretch of the SP 24, we pass the junction to the SP 478 (Sarteano) and shortly after, at a hairpin bend (km 35.4), we leave the SP 24 and we take the old dirt and downhill Cassia that joined Radicofani and Ponte a Rigo (with a distance of about) 9 km.

You ignore the many detours to the right and left that lead to old farms and, after some hairpin bends that allow you to mitigate the slope, you arrive at the sheepfold of Baccanello (km 42 altitude 363 m) and you meet on the left the Rigo torrent.

After passing a rural village, the road begins to level out. At km 44.5 you can see on the right the Maddalena lake and, immediately after, you arrive at Ponte a Rigo (km 45), intersection point with the route of the Abbadia San Salvatore Acquapendente.

At Ponte a Rigo (hostel and refreshment point) we go down to the Cassia, we ride along it on the right until a crosswalk near a bar tobacconist, we cross the Cassia and we go down to the Rigo river bed (km 45.1).  We bend to the right and ride along the Cassia from underneath, walking on a path on the edge of the field for about 500 meters and after leaving the Cassia and going straight ahead we bend to the right to leave the path to go up to the SP 20 (crossroad Cassa Aurelia) that we will ride for a few kilometers (km 45.9).

We cross the Paglia river on a bridge and immediately after we leave the SP 18 on the right and continue left on the SP 20 (km 46.5). We follow the provincial road until Podere Siete (km 50.2) where we take a dirt road on the left until the farm La Valle (km 50.9). Here you have to turn sharply to the left, cross the Siele torrent at km 52.3 and immediately after, at the fork, turn right.

With a non-linear route (proceeding east-southeast) you pass a series of farms Cornietello (km 53.6), Sant’Antonio (km 54.4), La Terraccia (km 55.3), La Casina (km 56.1). Here you have to turn right and you arrive at the farm San Giorgio (57.3 km) and from there (in SE direction) you arrive at Proceno (60.2 km).

You have to pass the village and proceed along the provincial road of Proceno until you reach the Cassia (62.2 km), then you have to turn right (62.6 km), you have to pass the farm Lionello (63.2 km) and you’ll arrive in Acquapendente, where the route ends in Piazza del Comune (66 km).