For a stage that starts by the sea, this one moves inland quickly. From La Spezia, the route climbs through the hills around Vezzano and Santo Stefano before reaching the Magra plain, then Sarzana and Luni. On the coast, Marina di Carrara, Massa and Forte dei Marmi pass with the white Apuan Alps behind them: marble mountains, not just beach scenery. At Pietrasanta, the GPX turns inland again, through Camaiore and over the climb near Montemagno. After that, the road drops into the Lucca plain, where the city walls make a clear finish.
