The time trial course ended in front of the Colosseum, having taken the riders past the Vatican and the Circus Maximus.

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From the Colosseum, cutting across the ancient racecourse Circus Maximus, it is a wonderful stroll up the Aventino, one of Rome's seven hills, home to a dreamily upmarket residential district with deep-green trees shading its orange-ochre buildings.

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Roberts is a director at the London-based property and planning consultancy Turnberry Consulting, and in his latest book, Racecourse Architecture, he and co-author Isabelle Taylor trace the history of race courses, beginning with the Circus Maximus and the first century B.

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