Sunday, September 13, 2020

Wine and Food of Le Tour 2020 Stage 15

Where are we? Heading from Lyon to Grand Colombier. 

The race director says: "At last” might say the relieved enthusiasts of what is also known as the “Bugey pyramid” who had been requiring a summit finish there for quite some time. And it’ll almost be an entire climb of the Grand Colombier that will be organised for this 15th stage with indeed three of the four access roads covered. The final climb of the mountain, the one where it won’t be possible to hide will start in Culoz. The battle promises to be intense on the eve of the second rest day!

Grand Colombier specialties:  Diots au marc du Bugey (sausage), truffle of Bugey, salé (walnut and onion tart). Cheese (Tome de Belley, Pavé d’Affinois, Comté in Arvière-en-Valromey). Sugar tart. Wines of Bugey (AOC), Kario distillery plant liquours, wines of Seyssel AOP (Altesse « Roussette » and Molette), AOP Roussette de Savoie cru Frangy.


The stage: Our breakaway of the day:
Behind them, at the intermediate sprint point, Bennett took maximum points from the field. Updated standings and a comment from LeTour:
1. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step), 269
2. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), 224
3. Matteo Trentin (CCC Team), 189
4. Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), 166
5. Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), 158
6. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), 131
7. Michael Morkov (Deceuninck-Quick Step), 112
8. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), 108
9. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), 100
Shall Sam Bennett complete stage 15 within the time cut, he'll retain the green jersey at Grand Colombier.

Which was a reminder to me that time cuts are something we should think about today. Essentially, the riders must finish within a certain percentage of the winning rider to be allowed to stay in the race. It most frequently is an issue for sprinters on mountain stages or for injured riders trying to just make it through the day.
One hundred kilometers to go and the break had four minutes.
Meanwhile, I stumbled on this and laughed:
As they started the first big climb, riders were quickly dropped from the peloton. It would be a long day for the sprinters and they would form a grupetto or autobus and just try to make it in within the time cut. Among the riders in that group were Coquard, Ewan, Alaphilippe, Viviani, Stuyven, and Bennett.
At the front, now a trio in the lead: Pierre Rolland, Jesus Herrada, and Simon Geschke.
Nice field art:
Making it a quartet at the front, Gogl. On the downhill, Gogl would go solo. Rolland would chase and catch Gogl. Behind in the the yellow jersey group, Pinot was dropped.

Provisional KOM standings after col de la Biche:

1. Benoît Cosnefroy (Ag2r La Mondiale), 36 points

2. Nans Peters (Ag2r La Mondiale), 31

3. Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb), 31

4. Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), 26

5. Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), 25

6. Michael Gogl (NTT Pro Cycling), 24

7. Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), 24

8. Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), 21

9. Simon Geschke (CCC Team), 18

10. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), 18

To take the lead of the KOM, Pierre Rolland would need to make the top 4 at Grand Colombier, Jesus Herrada the top 3 and Michael Gogl the top 2. If Primoz Roglic were to win the stage, he could also be in the polka dot jersey.


Thirty kilometers to go and Gogl and Rolland were at the front. Not much further and Herrada would be caught by the pack, leaving just the duo out front. 

Next up:

Gogl and Rolland had a two minute lead with 20 kilometers to go. The ascent to Grand Colombier was the last 17 kilometers of the stage. 
As they neared the climb, the main peloton was surprisingly large, 100 or so riders.
Fifteen kilometers and it was 1:15. Rolland would push forward solo.
Gogl would be caught and passed by the peloton.
Struggling on the back of the GC group: Quintana and Bernal with thirteen kilometers to go. At the front, Rolland caught. 
With twelve kilometers to go, the lead group was down to twenty three riders: Primoz Roglic, George Bennett, Tom Dumoulin, Sepp Kuss, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-McLaren), Rigoberto Urán, Daniel Martínez (EF Education First), Enric Mas, Alejandro Valverde, Carlos Verona (Movistar Team), Richie Porte, Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo), Jan Hirt (CCC Team), Tadej Pogačar, David de la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates), Miguel Ángel López, Harold Tejada (Astana Pro Team), Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis).
Amazing riding from the Jumbo-Visma team.
Eleven kilometers to go and Bernal was already a minute back.
Finally, Wout van Aert pulled off. Truly remarkable ride from him today.
With eight kilometers to go, our lead group: Primoz Roglic, George Bennett, Tom Dumoulin, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-McLaren), Rigoberto Urán (EF Education First), Enric Mas, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team), Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Miguel Ángel López, Harold Tejada (Astana Pro Team) and Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).

Attack from Adam Yates. He would be reeled back.
As they climb, I find myself not missing the running, screaming, costumed fans at all.
Five kilometers to go and twelve riders left in that group. Three kilometers to go and Bernal was four minutes behind.
Roglic would jump and soon have company. Pogacar with the stage win. And for the GC:
The wine: Arbois D.D., Bénédicte et Stéphane Tissot - 2018
From Copake Wine Works
From Stéphane Tissot's Biodynamic vineyard in Arbois, named for Stéphane's father, Andre "DD" Tissot. This is a blend of Trousseau, Poulsard, and Pinot Noir co-fermented in 2000L foudres. 

The food: Fromager d'Affinois 
From SFGate: This Brie-like cow's milk cheese is made by a company that, 20 years ago, pioneered the use of ultrafiltration in cheesemaking. Ultrafiltration removes water from the pasteurized milk before cheesemaking, concentrating all the other components.
Thanks to ultrafiltration, every step of the cheesemaking process -- coagulation, unmolding, maturing -- can happen faster. A classic Brie takes about eight weeks to make; Fromager d'Affinois is ready in two weeks. 

I say: Creamy, rich and very tasty. 

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