Ostricando 2026: gravel riding in the Po Delta

Part one — A century of cooperation in the lagoon

Before it was a bike ride, Ostricando (a gravel ride born out of the oyster trade) was a story about work. In the Sacca degli Scardovari, the lagoon where the fresh water of the Po meets the Adriatic, the environment is unstable, generous and demanding: fishing here has never been a solitary trade, but a matter of cooperatives, shifts, poles driven into the mud together and shared stretches of water.

The Delta oyster is the latest chapter in that story: the salinity shifts with the tides and forces the oyster to work, and from that effort come a dense flesh and a mineral finish that recalls the river more than the open sea.

1. 1936

   The lagoon's first cooperative

   The fishermen of the Sacca degli Scardovari join forces for the first time, on the understanding that work in the lagoon can only be defended together.

2. 1976

   The Consorzio Cooperative Pescatori del Polesine

   The cooperatives federate and create the consortium: shared management of the water, common rules and a single voice for the Delta.

3. 2016

   The birth of the Perla del Delta

   The Delta oyster finds its name and its identity: farmed in waters of varying salinity, it develops a meaty texture and an elegant savouriness.

4. Today

   A supply chain answering the blue crab

   Faced with the crisis brought by the blue crab, the local supply chain has responded with new protection techniques, diversification and an event that brings people to where the work actually happens.

Part two — Riding the Delta along the levees

You do not ride the Delta as you ride a climb: you ride it like one long breath. The levees run level with the water, the surface alternates between compact gravel and tarmac, and the wind becomes the only real gradient of the day. That is why Ostricando suits riders who never race: no steep ramps, and plenty of attention for the landscape.

In October the light is low and long, the fishing lagoons fill with herons and greater flamingos, and the fishermen's reed huts appear suddenly beyond a bend in the levee. You set off from Pila in the morning and come back feeling you have crossed a landscape that the main road never shows you.

Part three — The fishermen and the cyclists

What sets Ostricando apart are the feed stops. They are not tables set up for the occasion: they are the places where the Delta works every day, opened to cyclists for one day.

• Authenticity — The people who welcome you are not extras: they are the fisherman, the oyster farmer, the cooperative. The story matches the trade.
• A real economy — Every entry fee stays in the Delta: it pays for the work of the cooperatives, the restaurateurs and the local businesses.
• Continuity — An event that comes back every year creates habit, presence and a tourist season in the autumn too.

The routes: 60 km or 90 km

Practical information