Museo del Ciclismo Madonna del Ghisallo di Magreglio

The guide to the Museo del Ciclismo Madonna del Ghisallo in Magreglio, above Lake Como, opens with a torch blessed by Pope Pius the Twelfth in 1948 and carried on foot for four days, its final stretch run side by side by rivals Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi. A year later the pope named this hilltop chapel's Madonna the patron saint of cyclists, and champions began treating the sanctuary as a place to leave something behind before a race. You'll hear how racing bicycles and sweat-soaked jerseys ended up on display inside, offered rather than kept. Stop at the lamp still burning in the chapel before you walk the museum floor.