Wide open dreams make wide open roads
We are australian Cyclists who fell in love with cycling at home and abroad.
who is wide open road?
Wide Open Road Cycling Tours have been operating since 2001 and are owned, operated and run by Clare Holdsworth. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Clare has extensive cycling and travel experience in Europe and Australia, has detailed knowledge of the best cycling routes as well as the cultures, traditions, food and wine of the regions we pass through. Clare is also an expert in tour design and delivery - curating the perfect holiday by bike!
Our rides are point to point with a few rest/loop ride days, we cycle around 80km a day, attract a mix of abilities, ages and genders. We also offer options for more/less riding on many of the days on Tour.
The common factor is a love of challenging but sociable cycling with a good meal and glass of wine (or two!). Many of our customers become lifelong friends and return in following years.
Why book a cycling tour with us?
A personalised Cycling Experience
Wide Open Road delivers a personalised holiday experience, adapting your holiday to your needs. If you want to ride an extra climb, take in a long lunch, or take a short-cut - it's all possible! We provide you with GPS uploads, daily route-notes & maps so you can ride at your own pace & make the holiday your own!
We are experts at designing and delivering cycling tours, with over 20 years experience. We deliver an exceptional balance of cycling, cultural and touristic interest on all our Tours and provide you with flexibility during the day to ensure your holiday is perfect for you.
OUtstanding Value For Money
Our cycling holidays are the best value for money going around. We offer longer cycling holidays at less daily cost of most other tour companies. They are the best value holiday on the market. We put in a lot of research to ensure the hotels and restaurants we use are locally run and operated and showcase the traditions and culture of the regions we cycle through.
WE CATER FOR WOMEN, COUPLES AND SINGLES
Our cycling tours cater specifically for women and couples. Being a woman, our founder Clare ensures that women are welcome on any Wide Open Road cycling holiday. We get over 30% women on each of our holidays (and strive for 50/50!) - much more than most other companies. We also attract a range of ages. This makes for a diverse, fun and social element to our group holidays.
WE ARE CYCLISTS and FOODIES!
This is very much reflected through the restaurants, bistrots and bars that we take you to, the menus of the group meals and the fresh regional produce we purchase at local markets for afternoon tea. Hours of research (and taste testing!) has gone in to these aspects of our tours.
Each tour we seek out special gastronomic moments - think degustation dinners with matched wines, visiting a tiny mountain hamlet with a hidden foodie gem or enjoying 10/10 croissants for breakfast!
10,000+
Kilometres travelled by bike on our Tours,
and counting
7
Countries visited. We operate tours in Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria and Japan.
927
Cyclists who’ve been on tour with us. We’re fortunate to have made many friends along the way.
21
Years in operation. You can be assured of experience, passion and knowledge when you choose our services.
Meet the team
Clare
Director
Initially a customer on a WOR Holiday in 2005, Clare took up the reins in 2008 and hasn’t looked back. She is based in Melbourne and has clocked up tens of thousands of kilometres exploring the regions that Wide Open Road pass through. She brings her passion, experience and knowledge of cycling, travel, food and wine to provide that magic mix of a WOR Cycle Tour. She is also a qualified physiotherapist, speaks French and loves an al fresco long lunch after a great ride. @wideopenroadcycletours
paul (aka Pepe)
TOUR - CREW LEADER
Pepe has been a member of the WOR crew since 2012, when his first European road ride was the epic climb to Alpe d’Huez. He’s been hooked ever since, crewing on our rides through France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Australia. Nine years later and he’s now a WOR lead, having cycled all our tours numerous occasions as well as traveling and cycling extensively in other regions of Europe. He brings the wealth of his customer service knowledge to the team. He is also a qualified musculoskeletal physiotherapist.
Roofi
Tour - CREW
Roofi, from Melbourne, has crewed for Wide Open Road on our Barcelona to Nice, Nice to the Alps and Vic Alps Tours. Roofi also joined us as a customer on our Milan to Venice tour in 2016 – so he has a great perspective on how our tours operate! A keen cyclist with a triathlon/ironman background, Roofi won the crew award for ‘tidiest van’ – just don’t mention the goat milk! @i.roofi
LiZ
TOUR - CREW
Liz has been part of the Wide Open Road crew since she joined our Milan to Venice Tour in 2022 and hasn’t looked back – joining us on our Vic Alps and Gravel Tours since then, she’s firmly cemented herself as part of the WOR Team! Liz is from Brisbane and is an avid cyclist and currently works as a cycle coach. With a background in exercise science and pharmacy, Liz has a passion for helping others achieve their goals on the bike and is always happy to pace and support someone up a long climb.
Emma - tour mechanic
Emma has been with WOR since 2015 and has crewed with us as riding/driving mechanic on multiple Europe Tours and our upcoming Gold Coast to Byron & Beyond Aussie Tour. Emma lives in Anglesea and works in a bike shop 1 day a week. Super strong on the roadie, lately gravel and CX have become her thing. Sitting next to Emma at dinner? Just ask her about her dog Marlow! @em_______k
mick - tour crew
Mick hails from northern NSW, in the beautiful rolling Byron hinterland, where the riding is superb. Having crewed for us in Europe over the years, Mick is looking forward to showing the WOR customers his own backyard as crew on our Gold Coast - Byron & Beyond Tour. He not only knows the best roads - he’ll happily point out great coffee stops along the way, as a bit of an aficionado!
paul (skittle) - tour crew
Skittle’s got Italian heritage, loves bikes and parla italiano! As our language and culture expert on our northern Italy tour - he brings not only his knowledge of the country (and in particular the North, where his family is from) but also his passion for all things Italian - and the afternoon teas when he’s in charge are deliziosa!
alfie - tour mechanic
Alfie is a lifetime mechanic and a wizard with bikes! He’s also a super strong cyclist and to top things off he speaks a bit of French, with his extended family living in Paris. He’s been with the WOR gang since 2017 and has joined many of our Europe and Australian tours as mechanic, keeping us all rolling (and cleaning Clare’s bike when she asks nicely and buys him a beer!).
ROB - tour mechanic
Rob aka Bob is a wizard with bikes and super handy to have on board our Crew particularly in remote areas where he can work his magic with limited supplies/parts! He’s a nature and adventure lover, living near the beautiful surf-coast and Otways in Victoria - in his spare time he’s enjoying the outdoors - when he’s not working on bikes, creating a new “dream build” or as a Prosthetist/Orthotist. @bare_foot_bob
BRIAN
TOUR - CREW
Brian (“BC”) joined us on a tour in 2019 as a customer but established himself early on as Crew material. A cyclist with a passion for swimming and running, he loves his European cuisine and has spent many months in Europe cycling, eating and drinking and brings that experience to the WOR team.
NOEL
TOUR - CREW
Noel is from Melbourne and joins WOR for the second time in 2023, having crewed for us on our 2022 Italy Tour. Noel has been cycling for many years and used to run his own cycling tours, the famous “Deadly Treadlie” Easter long weekend rides – so has experience in tour logistics and management. Noel will be driving the luggage vehicle on alternate days and otherwise on his bike!
Our Partners
It’s great to work with so many wonderful people and organisations across the world!
Travel Associates
We recommend Gannon & Turner Travel Associates to help organise flights for your Wide Open Road cycling holiday. They understand what it means to travel with a bike and can help ensure your journey is as efficient as possible.
The Kilns
The Kilns offer luxury accommodation in one of the best parts of Australia for cycling – situated at the foot of of the challenging 26km climb to Mt Buffalo.
cyclist magazine - aus
We love the magazine and were thrilled when they joined our Vic Alps Tour to and featured it as a multi-page cover story in 2018
HIGH COUNTRY Women’s Cycling
A multi-day cycling festival based out of Bright in Victoria's High Country, this event is a celebration of women's cycling with a focus on fun, fitness, friendship & cycling. They also offer multi-day tours for women.
photographer - coco louise henry
It’s with great thanks to Coco, our incredible photorgrapher, for many of the great Aussie cycling images on these pages. Get in touch with Coco for all your photography needs!
Bicycles Network Australia
Australia’s top cycling portal. It is a free online information resource with a comprehensive cycling directory, current news, articles and reviews.
