Giro 2024 Stage 2: San Francesco al Campo to Santuaria di Iropa

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.

In addition to this local product, the town – thanks to its position straddling three areas (Torinese, Valli di Lanzo and Canavese) – offers a wide range of typical products, from Torcetti di Lanzo to Paste di Meliga (cornflour cookies) and the now widespread Pusa, the Piedmontese herbal liqueur (so-called “Amaro”) made with extracts and natural aromas typical of the area, such as genepy, serpyll thyme, chamomile, lavender, sage and mint.

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.

Among the best known cheeses is Toma, a hard, cow’s milk cheese of ancient Alpine tradition. It is produced both with whole milk (Maccagno type) and partially skimmed milk. Toma cheeses from the valleys around Biella have the D.O.C. mark awarded by the Piedmont Region. These cheeses are also the main ingredients for two delicious local dishes: ‘pulenta cunscia’, a soft maize cream cooked at length in the pot, with plenty of local cheese and tasty farmhouse butter melted in it, and ‘ris an cagnùn’, with toma cheese and butter sautéed.
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 $23.00
Ceri 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.

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 food: Biscotti di Meliga

Because polenta cookies sounded kind of great to me as an afternoon tea snack.

I found a recipe here.

Giro 2024 Stage 1 Venaria Reale to Torino

 Where are we? Piedmont

Venaria Reale: Time to visit a palace:
La Venaria Reale is a grandiose estate just outside Turin. In comprises 80,000 square meters of floor surface in the Reggia and 60 hectares of Gardens, adjacent to the 17th century ancient village of Venaria and the 3,000 fenced hectares of the Park of La Mandria. It is a natural and architectural masterpiece that was declared part of the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1997. It reopened to the public in 2007 after completing the EU’s largest cultural restoration project to date.
The monumental palace or Reggia boasts some of the finest examples of universal Baroque: the elegant Hall of Diana designed by Amedeo di Castellamonte, the solemn Great Gallery and the Church of St. Hubert, the imposing complex of the Juvarra Stables designed by Filippo Juvarra in the 18th century, the sumptuous decorations and the spectacular Fountain of the Stag in the Court of Honor and the spectacular Fountain of the Stag in the Court of Honor provide a unique setting for the Theater of History and Magnificence, the permanent display - almost 2,000 m long - devoted to the House of Savoy, that spans from the basement level to the piano nobile of the Reggia.

Giro specialties: None listed

Torino: Torino, also known as Turin is the capital city of Piedmont. The local visitor's bureau tells me that: Torino is an aristocratic “old lady” more than two thousand years old, whose vestiges are still visible in “her” main monuments, streets, squares and underground... an “old lady” reborn out of “her” own ashes, more dynamic, innovative and modern than ever but always proud of “her” great past. The first capital of Italia invites you to discover its ancient and modern history, the Royal Residences, the palaces and museums, the parks and tree-lined avenues, the river and the mountains, the historic restaurants and cafes, the long arcaded streets and the multiethnic neighborhoods, the great events and the many small pleasures that have always made it unique, in a harmonious balance among the rational Roman urban planning, the moderate splendor of the Piemonte baroque and the originality of modern and contemporary architecture.

Giro specialties: Turin, like the whole of Piedmont, offers a cuisine with deep roots in folk and court tradition, genuine and rich in flavours: appetisers and starters accompanied by grissini breadsticks – invented in the 17th century for Prince Victor Amadeus II of Savoy -, agnolotti, Piedmontese-style mixed fried food, bagna cauda (warm oil, garlic and anchovy based dipping sauce), mixed boiled meats with their sauces, and cheeses from the Alpine valleys. All washed down with local red and white DOC and DOCG wines: Carema, Doux D’Henry, Freisa, Bonarda, Cari, Erbaluce, Ramie, Caluso Passito…

An authentic Turin dinner, however, must be preceded by the ritual of the aperitif, perhaps enjoying a vermouth. This famous and indispensable component of some of the most appreciated cocktails in the world was invented in Turin in 1786 from an idea of Antonio Benedetto Carpano.
The oldest national coffee roasters and the most important coffee brands also originate from here, and the first patent for an ‘espresso’ coffee machine (1884) was granted to Mr. Angelo Moriondo of Turin. What about chocolate and confectionery? Just a few words: gianduiotti (created by Michele Prochet), ‘bignole’, zabaglione, bicerin…

The stage: Before we get to the stage, I just have to say how amazing it is that I can watch this race on tv! Thank you, Max.
No prologue or easy stage to start this year's Giro. Instead 140 kilometers with a couple of kicks along the way. 

Soon enough, our first break of the Giro: Ghebreigzabhier, Barré, Calmejane,, Debeaumarché, Fiorelli, and Pietrobo. 

They would not get a large gap. UAE Team Emirates, the team of race favorite, Pogacar, seemed determined to not let there be a surprise winner from the break. Along the way, we'd see Fioreilli take a few points and the gap grew to over three minutes.

Not surprisingly, as they rode closer, the break fell apart. Left out front were Ghebreigzabhier and Calmejane. Thirty kilometers to go and their gap was under 2 minutes.

A small crash in the group, but everyone would be back up riding.

In the group, riders were continuing to be dropped as the climb continued.

Indeed, the group would get very small as they closed in. 

A group of 8 would take off but as  they closed in on 4 kilometers, Conci was ahead solo. 

Finally, an attack by Pogacar. Cue renewed talk of him spending the entire race in the pink leader's jersey. He would have company, Narvaez and Schachmann. 

Wow! In the sprint, Narvaez. Well done indeed. 

The wine: The wine: Ettore Germano Rosanna Brut Rosé

Back to 2022 for this one! 

Pink bubbles! From Dig: Italian men are rather famously attached to their mothers. Rosanna is the name of Barolo producer Sergio Germano’s mamma, for whom he named this beautiful Brut Rosé. It’s 100% young-vines Barolo-grown Nebbiolo made in the classic method. Zero dosage as well, so it’s fresh, dry, complex, and absolutely delicious stuff. 

The food: Grissini

Grissini because doesn't everyone love a breadstick? 

I used the recipe here from Thekitchn. 
It is simple enough to follow and you can add herbs and spices to your own preference. 

I wrote a book!

 

A real book!

Dropping in briefly during non cycling season to say that I wrote a book:  Date Night: San Francisco: 50 Creative, Budget-Friendly Dates for the Golden City and I'd love it if you could read it!

The book is a love letter to San Francisco and a guide to some of the best things to do in the city with a date or friends or family, on a budget. From the intro, “the hope is that these dates will help you not only fall in like, or love, or grow your existing relationship with your date, but also to fall in love, or fall in love again, with San Francisco. Working on this project I did as I was visiting new-to-me spots and old favorites. “ Not surprisingly, there is a lot of food and drink, but also walks, rose gardens, and the Alcatraz Night Tour. 

The Amazon listing is here (but please buy from your local bookstore if you can), the publisher page here and a silly video of me talking about the book is here: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/california-live/here-are-5-romantic-affordable-sf-date-ideas/3328339/.