La Classica is a 300km cycling challenge from Florence to Rome and the participating cyclists had trained for several months as part of the Martini Racing Ciclismo programme to encourage a healthy lifestyle among bartenders through group cycling. 

Each bartender earned their place on the ride according to their level of commitment to training at Ciclismo spin classes and organised rides in their respected markets.

“I feel incredible – like I actually achieved something pretty massive,” said Pietro Collina, Davies and Brook at Claridge's in London. “I’m going to take so much from this – it’s shown me that when you have such a large obstacle ahead of you, if you have a lot of great support and people around you, you can achieve anything. 

“And doing this in what is actually my home country has also made me remember that Italy is just incredibly stunning, they even managed to safely take us on a cycling route right through central Rome that was so scenic.”

Martini Racing Ciclismo was launched in 2018 and any money raised goes towards ‘Wine to Water,’ a non-profit organisation which focuses on providing clean water to people in need.

“As somebody who has not cycled for a long time, I was persuaded to get back on the saddle. If I had known then how much fun this would be and the incredible camaraderie of La Classica, I don’t think I would have needed any persuasion and would advise everyone who gets the chance to come on to this programme, it’s just wonderful,” added Simon Difford.