Monday, July 9, 2018

Wine and Food of the Tour de France 2018 Stage 3: Cholet Team Time Trial

Where are we?
Cholet: A Sous-préfecture of Maine-et-Loire, that was apparently the miltary capitol of the Vendée. Michelin tells me that: An airy town in the modern urban style, Cholet is dynamic and flourishing. It has preserved the memory of the tragic events of the Vendée wars, the massacres and the fires. Sited in the heart of the Mauges with woods, pools, parks and chateaux, Cholet is proud of its textile industry first mentioned in the 11C; the handkerchief (originally imported from Italy), the famous « white of Cholet » has given up centre-stage to high quality household linen.
It seems then that we should visit the textile and fashion museum, housed in a former cloth bleaching factory.
LeTour regional specialties for MAINE-ET-LOIRE: Anjou and Saumur vineyards (32 appellations), plum pâté, fouaces, sliced ​​apples, rillauds



 
The stage: Our team time trial or TTT is up today. What is it? Well, essentially all of the riders on a single team, out on the road in a group, working to get the fastest time possible by alternating between drafting (riding in line) and pulling (working at the front.) Confused? Try this video from LeTour.


First off: Mitchelton-Scott. Next to head out, Sky. A reminder as we start that the teams this year have 8 riders, rather than 9. The time for each team will be taken when the fourth rider crosses the line, so several riders may drop from the group during the race. They will then only have to come in before the cut off to continue in the race, something that may be important for the injured Lawson Craddock.
MTS comes in at 14:12 at the first check point, which tells us very little at the moment but will be something for comparison for later teams. Speaking of that comparison, Sky looks much faster on the road, but came in at 1 second slower than MTS at that check point. At the second check, they would be 4 seconds faster, having already dropped Rowe and Poels. 
Ahead, MTS in at 38:55.
Sky in at 38:50 with Geraint Thomas first across the line. Will he be in yellow tonight? Time will tell.
Behind, Movistar seems to be losing meaningful time. They were not expected to win today, but this may leave their gc riders with even more of a deficit. Indeed, they were 49 seconds down to Sky.
BMC in at 38:46. Nice work and not unexpected.
Some of the remaining teams, were, well, not that skilled at the discipline. 
Sunweb, expected to be a contender, came in at 11 seconds behind BMC. The only other likely challengers to their win would be Quickstep. Though strange things seemed to be happening to them on course. Much less precision than one would expect. At the third time check, they were down 6 seconds to BMC.
Behind them, Sagan dropped by his team. Unusual to see him struggling like this. Watching some of these teams, you almost wish cycling had a mercy rule.


 
38:53 for Quickstep. Congrats BMC and welcome to yellow Greg Van Avermaet.

Stage:


GC:
1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 9:08:55
2 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
3 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:03
4 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:05
5 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:07
6 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:07
7 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:11
8 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:00:11
9 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:11
10 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:34


Wine: Bruno Rochard/Domaine de Mirebeau Moque-Souris Chenin Blanc 2014
From CopakeWineworks
Finally, the expected white!
Christy says:
Feiring Line Wine Society: May 2017 Selection
From Alice: Here's a terrific wine which had its roots in  those schist-based soils of Rablay/Layon. Bruno returned to his family's estate in 1998 and started to work his 6.5 hectares in 2002, under the guidance of neighbor Richard Leroy. And in 2006 he started to convert to organic. Every year his wines get better and more expressive. I wrote up the 2013 a few months ago and the 2014 is no less lovely but a little different, there's still plenty of flesh but a little less pith and firm. The plushness matched with refreshment is an adorable duo and the whole wine has a very long, violet narrative until the last drop. Bruno continues to impress.
 


Food: Mouchoirs de Cholet
Mouchoirs de Cholet are sweets designed to honour the red handkerchiefs which are the symbols of Cholet. They are a subtle mixture of almond paste with orange, pralines and hazelnuts, covered by red and white chocolate recalling the design of the handkerchiefs. 
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