Giro 2024 Stage 7: Foligno to Perguia

Where are we? Time trialing in Umbria

Foligno: Lying halfway between the more renowned Perugia and Assisi, the city is an excellent destination, all round. Strategically located as a major road and railway hub, the city expanded repeatedly over time, and even grew outside the old town centre in the modern age, towards the surrounding plains. 

Giro Specialties: Foligno retains much of its culinary traditions, following the seasonal cycles and the agricultural production.

The town offers pleasant and tasty occasions to the lovers of local cuisine thanks to its simple, excellent products, often hard to find elsewhere. Foligno’s agricultural produce retains its exquisite authenticity, such as Cave beans, ‘Gobbi’ (cardoons), heart tomatoes and the particular fragrance and scent of local extra virgin olive oil obtained from the moraiolo variety typical of this area.
Multi-flower honey is also produced here from the nectar of several botanical species: sunflower, chestnut, acacia, etc.
In the Colfiorito plateau, agriculture has survived thanks to the specialisation of its products, such as the red potato, dairy products, typical cereals such as spelt and original legumes like lentils and chickling peas.
Foligno’s signature dishes are: Strangozzi with truffle, Tagliatelle and gnocchi with mutton, Pigeon Foligno style, Trout from Menotre in porchetta, Cheese pizza with salami, Lentils and red potatoes from Colfiorito.
A delight for the palate and a local speciality is the Rocciata, a typical pastry from Foligno, consisting of a thin sheet of dough made from wheat flour that envelops a mixture of walnuts, sugar, olive oil and apples, to which other ingredients such as alkermes, cocoa, sultanas, dried figs, cinnamon and pine nuts can be added according to the confectioners’ taste or imagination.

Perugia:  The New York Times tells me that Perguia is one of Italy's most underrated destinations. The local tourist board says: Mighty Etruscan centre and important mediaeval city after that, Perugia guards lovingly precious traces of its luminous historical periods. The city is today the administrative and cultural capital of the Umbria Region, a major tourist and cultural destination, site of the University for over 700 years. The historical Academy of Fine Arts, the Music Conservatorium, and its University for Foreigners, with students coming from all over the world, define furthermore the marked international vocation.

Culturally and socially bright and lively, Perugia is a city full of “secrets” to disclose: the suggestion is to explore it with curiosity to fully appreciate the excitement and fascination of discovery.

Giro Specialties: The Torcolo di San Costanzo is a typical doughnut-shaped cake from Perugia, which is prepared for the feast day of Saint Costanzo, one of the city’s patron saints, whose martyrdom is commemorated on 29 January. In the 16th century, on the saint’s feast day, wealthy congregations bought large quantities of Torcolo to be distributed to the poor. It also seems that a pretty serious competition was held between the city’s bakers, whose products were then offered to passers-by. Today, on the occasion of the patron saint’s day, Borgo XX Giugno – the street in the immediate vicinity of the Church dedicated to the saint – hosts the historic Fiera Grande, an exhibition market with stands selling typical products and handicrafts, while in Corso Vannucci, in front of Palazzo dei Priori, and in the Monteluce district, slices of Torcolo prepared by the city’s bakers and confectioners are distributed.

The stage: Time for a time trial.

I don't want to say that I don't find a time trial at this stage of the race compelling, but, well, it was a nice morning for a walk.

With the gc favorites heading in, our unexpected leader was Ganna at 52:01.

A wind shift seemed to have slowed everyone down a bit, so that time was looking like it very well might hold. 

Much later, Pogacar seemed to be putting time into Thomas. Make that a lot of time.

In fact, G would drop from second to third on the race. 

Indeed, Pogacar would take the stage. Deep sigh.

The wine: From 2017

Bea 07 Pipparello from Dig 
If it is Umbria it must be time for a Bea wine.  

From Italian Wine Merchants
As with all of Paolo Bea's wines, the estate uses non-interventionist techniques to grow grapes for its Montefalco Riserva Pipparello--a blend of about 60 percent Sangiovese with the rest split evenly between indigenous Umbrian grapes Montepulciano and Sagrantino. This natural wine is traditional in spirit, undergoing a long and unusual maceration of six weeks, extended aging in large neutral casks and delivered to market with additional bottle aging for approachability. Offering aromas of ripe blackberry layered with black pepper and licorice, this wine offers a soft, structured palate with a distinct streak of acidity and notes of ripe Morello cherry, blackcurrant, game, truffles and baked earth. An exceptional vintage in Umbria, this ’07 Montefalco Riserva Pipparello presents immediate drinkability combined with age-worthiness; soft, round, herbaceous and juicy, it’s a delicious bottle from one of IWM’s favorite cult producers.

The food:  Umbrian lentils

From Market Hall foods: In the hills of southern Umbria, the Bartolini family have been growing olives, grains, and what they call pulses (legumes) since the 1850's. Their lentils are famous throughout Italy and beyond for their outstanding color, texture, & flavor. Pale brown and tan in color, the crops of Umbrian lentils are actually quite small, so the demand often outweighs the supply.
The fabled Castelluccio lentils are not a protected DOP product - this means the Italian government hasn't yet clamped down on imposters and refined the market to include only the authentic lentils of Castelluccio.  The tiny tiny tiny town in Umbria called Castelluccio simply can't produce enough lentils for the world's demand. That said, these lentils are the same variety, but we cannot attest to their exact origin.