Where are we? More Piedmont!
San Francesco al Campo: The Giro tells me that the town lies at the meeting point between the metropolitan area of north-western Turin, the plain that leads to the Lanzo Valleys and the morainic plateau entering the Canavese area. It is a municipality with an ancient agricultural tradition which has grown remarkably over the years, following the fate of numerous other towns in the province of Turin. Its proximity to the latter (about 20 km) has unquestionably favoured its development, welcoming over the years several families who chose to move out of the crowded city. The Sandro Pertini airport is located just out of town. Despite its small size, the municipality boasts a very active social and cultural network, with numerous sports, educational and recreational associations. Since 1996, it has been home to the Velodromo Francone (Francone Velodrome), a point of reference for cycling as well as the headquarters of the Centro federale di Avviamento alla Pista.
Giro Specialties: The typical product for which this town is known throughout the region is ‘L Canaveis’ panettone, produced by a historic artisan workshop in San Francesco al Campo. It is a traditional Piedmontese panettone, therefore slightly lower than the Lombard version, glazed and baked according to a very special recipe that has made it an exclusive and particularly sought-after Christmas cake for decades.
Santuaria di Oropa: A UNESCO World Heritage site, Oropa is the most important and largest sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary to be found in the Alps. It is located in a unique, natural and unspoilt setting at 1200 mt. a.m.s.l, at only 20 minutes drive from the centre of Biella.
Giro specialites: The local cuisine is distinctly Piedmontese, supported by nationally and internationally renowned companies and many small producers who keep the local tradition alive. Biella’s “enoLocal cusine” is rightfully counted among the excellences of this region.
Some of the most popular cured meats of the area are the ‘salam ‘d l’ula’, i.e. preserved in fat, made with pork, salt, pepper and sometimes red wine. Also characteristic are the ‘salam ‘d vaca’, i.e. made from beef, the ‘salam d’asu’ made from donkey meat and those made from goat meat.
More localised is the production of ‘salam ‘d patata’, in which boiled potatoes and a little blood are added to the mixture, or the ‘paletta di Coggiola’, a shoulder ham flavoured with salt and pepper, stuffed into a bladder and air-dried.
There is no shortage of sweets in Biella: ‘torcetti’ are leavened, crumbly, oval-shaped biscuits. The ‘paste ‘d melia’ are biscuits made with maize flour. Canestrelli are fragrant wafers with chocolate and hazelnuts.
The wide variety of flowers in the area enables the production of a wide range of honey types: acacia, chestnut, linden, rhododendron, dandelion and millefiori, to name but the most popular.
The stage: Look at that summit finish on only day two of the race!
I do like the fancy Giro stage "tweets."
A long break of the day to start things off featuring Scaroni, Piccolo, Bais, Fiorelli, and Marcellusi. Under 70 kilometers to go and their gap was still over 3 minutes.
Closer to 50 and it was dropping.
As their gap started to drop, Piccolo would attack his former mates, getting a small gap. With 40 kms to go, Piccolo had 47 secs over the chase, and 2.41 over the peloton.
I would say it is all uphill from here, but there are a few dips. That said, it was time to see who was ready for some early race climbing.
Meanwhile, Piccolo's gap was growing. With 25 km to go, he had 1:42 over the chasing group and 2:19 over the peloton. Under twenty to go and he still had close to 2 minutes over the peloton. Thirteen kms to go and he still had almost 2 minutes. He may have been beginning to believe. That said, the gap could drop very quickly.
Puncture Pogacar, with a slight fall. Not ideal at all, as he would have to chase back to a peloton that was moving with speed, though would make it without panic.
Under 10 kms to go and Piccolo's lead was down to just about one minute.
Under 7 kms to go and Piccolo would be caught. Great ride for him today.
After the catch, many shots of riders dripping from the shrinking peloton, as they went up and further up.
Under 5 kms to go and there went Pogacar. Time to see who could hold on and the answer very quickly was no one. Not that far behind were Thomas and O'Connor, followed by a larger bunch. Three kms to go and Pogacar had 17 seconds. That gap would grow as the chase group behind caught Thomas and O'Connor.
Under a km to go and the gap was around 30 seconds.
Into pink he would go. Would he now keep it for the entire race?
The wine: Back to 2014 for this one: The wine: Sottimano Mate 2012
From Biondivino $23.00Ceri says: A rare example of brachetto made into a dry, still wine. Sottimano made wine for years from this patch of old vines before learning exactly what it was.
From the producer:
Grapes: Brachetto.
Location of the vineyard: Neive.
Age of the vineyards: 35 years.
Size: 1.20 ha.
Average production: 5.000 btls/year.
Location of the vineyard: Neive.
Age of the vineyards: 35 years.
Size: 1.20 ha.
Average production: 5.000 btls/year.
The vineyard:The Maté is a small vineyard of Brachetto in the zone of Neive.
The vinification: The fermentation and the maceration on the skins normally takes about 7-8 days. No selected yeasts are used. The malolactical fermentation is completed in stainless steel, where the wine remains for approximately 8 months. There is no filtering and no fining prior to bottling.
The Maté has a very intense color, an elegant nose of spices and rose and a fresh and refined taste.
The acidity is well balanced by the good concentration of this vintage.
The acidity is well balanced by the good concentration of this vintage.
The food: Biscotti di Meliga
Because polenta cookies sounded kind of great to me as an afternoon tea snack.
I found a recipe here.
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