Stage Prato - Pistoia

At 27 kilometres with 350 metres of ascent, the second stage is the first that really tests the legs. The profile consists of a single long climb to the Monteferrato and its matching descent, so the difficulty lies more in the heat and the lack of shade than in the gradient, which never becomes severe.

Leaving Prato, the route follows the river Bisenzio to the north-west, soon trading the urban fabric for an increasingly natural setting. The way begins to gain height through pine woods growing on serpentine, a greenish, poor rock that gives the Monteferrato its distinctive vegetation and an almost Mediterranean look despite the altitude.

At the top, around 350 metres, the finest panorama of the day opens up: the plain of Prato and Pistoia below, the line of the Apennines to the north and, on clear days, the sea far off. Shortly afterwards the route passes the Rocca di Montemurlo, a medieval fortress that controlled the passage between the two cities and the setting in 1537 of the battle that secured Cosimo I de' Medici in power.

The descent leads to the countryside of Montale, a land of nurseries and ornamental plants that is today the economic engine of the district, and from there the way runs level towards Pistoia along tracks between market gardens and farmhouses.

Arriving in Pistoia carries a special weight. The cathedral of San Zeno has preserved since 1145 a relic of the apostle James brought from Compostela, and around it rose the Cappella di San Jacopo with its silver altar, one of the greatest works of medieval silversmithing in Italy. That devotion made the city the Tuscan Santiago and is the very origin of this route. The ensemble of the Piazza del Duomo, with baptistery and campanile, is among the most harmonious in the region.