Sunday, June 27, 2021

Wine & Food of Le Tour 2021, Stage 2: Perros-Guirec to Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan

Where are we? Day two in Brittany

Perros-Guirec: Brittany tourism tells me that: With its 13 km coastline and three sandy beaches, Perros is a paradise for families and water sports enthusiasts. One of its districts, Ploumanac'h, a former fishing hamlet that has become a tourist hotspot, offers visitors an almost unreal view with its pink rocks, imposing heaps of stone sculpted by the sea and the wind. A natural site of exceptional beauty.

Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan: The local tourist site tells us to go and visit the largest lake in Brittany, formed by the construction of a hydroelectric dam: On the border of the Côtes d'Armor and Morbihan, the Lac de Guerlédan is the result of the construction between 1923 and 1930 on the Blavet watercourse of a hydroelectric dam. It has an area of ​​304 hectares, it is 12 kilometers long and 45 meters deep at the foot of the dam, which makes it the largest artificial lake in Brittany.

Tour specialties:
Perros-Guirec:  Scallops, abalone, spiders and lobsters. Salted butter caramel pancake.
Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan: Crêpes and galettes (pancakes, including mashed potato galettes), scallops from the Bay of Saint-Brieuc.

Christian Prudhomme says: After a first part allowing to appreciate the wild and unique beauty of the Côte de Granit rose, the course heads inland towards a mouthwatering final section: the double climb up the Côte de Mûr-de-Bretagne will be an unforgiving judge especially because the riders will start the climb almost stopped, without that momentum that the former course had to offer.
The stage: Off again. Amazingly, all of those who finished yesterday's stage have started today, except for Soler. That seemed highly unlikely immediately post-stage. Also, the fan may be sued. 
Back on the road, the break of the day consisted of Theuns, Schelling, Perez, Clarke, Cabot, and Koch. Just 146 kilometers to go and their gap was about four minutes. Also, it was raining.
But we had this to be excited for, ahead on the roadside: Field art for the win! I enjoyed this tweet. So far, this had been one of those stages where you feel sort of bad for the commentators. Besides a minor KOM battle, they had little to talk about beyond the scenery and yesterday's injuries.
One hundred kilometers to go and the gap was down to 2:34.
Interesting and slightly thrilling to see Cavendish involved at the sprint point. He came second to Ewan from the field. Speaking of the assorted competitions beyond the yellow jersey, the polka dot competition has been a bit of entertainment on the day. Schelling has been very determined! Speaking of determined, read here for more on the quest of Lachlan Morton to ride the whole race without support cars, hotels, and more.
Just around sixty kilometers to go and Theuns and Cabot were ahead, with a small gap. The other breakaway riders had been gradually reabsorbed by the peloton.
Fifty three kilometers to go and the duo had about two minutes.

Coming soon and they would climb it twice.
On the first time up, there were time bonuses to think about. The second time, the stage win to contest.
Thirty kilometers to go and the gap to the duo was 1:40. Twenty five kilometers to go and it was just over one minute. Twenty one kilometers to go and Theuns was solo, but not for long as it was Mur time.
An attack by van der Poel, in search of the eight bonus seconds at the top. He would get them, with Pogacar taking five seconds and Roglic two.
With the win, van der Poel. No joy in mudville today.




GC:


The Wine: Cidrerie du Leguer Granit
The same producer as yesterday.
From the producer: t's the cider which is easy to get and appreciate. Every year is different because we are small producers. Round, generous, fruity, subtle tannins. Not bitter.
Apples: the blending is 15% bitter, 50% bitter-sweet, 20% sweet, 15% sharp


The food: Le Tour says: Galettes with mashed potatoes
The recipe is from Pontivy, but the 16 km separating the two towns means that Mûr-de-Bretagne can lay claim to this mashed potato pancake, which is a speciality of central Morbihan. It is a pancake like any other, which once cooked can be decorated to taste with sausage, bacon, andouille, or salmon, with the difference that the classic cake dough (flour, salt and water) is mixed with mashed potatoes. This obviously makes the dough more compact, more nourishing and less light, but that's what makes it so charming. 
I found a more precise recipe here.

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