Wines of the Giro Stage 6: A Big Crash Leads to Big Time Gaps & Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso 'Gelsonero'

Where are we?: Riding from Sassano to Montecassino. Today's route takes us from Campania to Lazio.The stage is in homage to the Battle of Montecassino, one of the pivotal moments of WWII. The battle was a series of four assaults by the Allies against the Winter Line held by Axis forces. You can read more on the battle here or here.

On a gastronomic note, Campania may be best known as the possible home of pizza (Naples). It is also the home of the San Marzano tomato, of sauce fame.
As for Lazio, the fascinating "Popes, Peasants, and Shepherds: Recipes and Lore from Rome and Lazio" by Oretta Zanini de Vita tells me that "the food of Rome and its region, Lazio, has always been redolent of herbs, olive oil, ricotta, lamb, and pork." Famous foods include Roman artichokes, spaghetti alla carbonara,and arrabbiata sauce.

The route:  They've added 10 kilometers today to avoid a landslide, leaving us with the longest stage of the race at 257 kilometers. Podium Cafe calls it a likely "long slog." (By the way, if you are a race fan, come join the live threads there.) Best guess is for a finish much like the one we saw yesterday.

The race: The weather? Windy with a 50% chance of rain at the finish. Our doomed break of the day Andrea Fedi (Neri Sottoli), Marco Bandiera (Androni Giocattoli), Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani) and Rdolofo Andres Torres (Colombia). Note though that a break did stay away at the Tour of California yesterday, so it is always possible, if not likely. Their gap went out to a maximum of fourteen minutes, but with 100 kilometers to go, it had been brought down to a more manageable five minutes. Hey, Sky at the front of the peloton. Working for EBH again? Time would tell.
82 kilometers to go and on went the rain jackets.  At the sprint point, the gap to the break was 5'43". 
Nice palace:

The Giro passing the "Reggia Di Caserta"... Botanical Beauty. Break far ahead in the sun, it's raining on the Peloton pic.twitter.com/XBE2OHcOFl
— Europcar Ireland (@Europcar_Ire) May 15, 2014

Ahead, news of a storm at the finish area, with strong winds and heavy rain.
Under 60 kilometers to go and the gap was back around six minutes. Long slog indeed. 45 kilometers to go and the gap was down to 3:50. 30 kilometers remaining and it was under three minutes. 20 kilometers left and it was just about one minute. 
Some fine dancing by a policeman on course to avoid a crash: 

Hero!!  #giro pic.twitter.com/HFfpNJCiO0
— ProCyclingStats.com (@ProCyclingStats) May 15, 2014

12.2 and the break was caught. Right after that catch: crashes. Many off their bikes. Some scary pictures of riders on the ground, especially of Giampaolo Caruso. Dear tv camera-people, there are things we do not need to see. 
Ahead, eight men remained at the front, including Cadel Evans and Michael Matthews. Behind them, some regrouping, but there were many splits on the road. Ahead, Cadel and Mathews and their small group continued on, finishing with a sprint easily won by Matthews. 
 

Kelderman leads chase group across at 48sec - polemic aside, big day for Evans, bad day for just about everyone else
— Andrew Hood (@EuroHoody) May 15, 2014

There will be a lot of talk , some of it likely to be rather angry, about this stage on twitter and elsewhere through the day. Plus, of course, injury reports.

Stage and Pink: Michael Matthews
GC:
2 [Australia] C. Evans BMC Racing +21
3 [Colombia] R. Urán O.Ph.-Q-Step +1:18
4 [Switzerland] S. Morabito BMC Racing +1:25
5 [Italy] M. Rabottini Neri Sottoli +1:25
6 [Italy] I. Santaromita Orica +1:47
7 [Italy] F. Aru Astana +1:51
8 [Belgium] T. Wellens Lotto +1:52
9 [Italy] I. Basso Cannondale +2:06
10 [Colombia] N. Quintana Movistar +2:08

Wine: Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso 'Gelsonero'
$25 at Biondivino:

From Biondivino: 80% Piedirosso and 20% Aglianico, organically grown: broad reddish-black color; smoky aroma with a hint of tar (notes I often find in red wines grown in volcanic soils); aroma and flavor of black fruit (blackberry, black cherry) and woody herbs (thyme, bay, rosemary); medium-weight but light on its feet. It is aged in puncheons for about a year. Drink now with red meats or cellar.

From the importer: Volcanic soils make for interesting wines, and many of Campania's famous terroirs are of volcanic origin. Mount Vesuvius is an active volcano just east of Naples, and the organically farmed vineyards of Villa Dora are on the lower slopes of the volcano, inside the national park that surrounds it. The soil, ground-up pumice really, looks like black Grape-Nuts, and the wines are strikingly flavorful and distinctive. There is no known scientific reason why certain minerals in the soil would affect the flavors of the wines grown in that soil, but I have to think there's a connection. I hope you like these wines as much as I do.

I say: Clearly, cat approved. Deep red. Full bodied and flavorful, but with enough acidity to keep it from feeling heavy. Black cherry and herbs.

Wines of the Giro Stage 5 :Ulissi & Bisceglia Terra di Vulcano

Where are we?: Heading from Taranto to Viggiano and leaving Puglia for the Basilicata. Google tells me that the Basilicata can be thought of as the "instep" of Italy. Basilicata covers an area of 9,995 square kilometres but has a population of only 600,000 making it one of the least populated areas of Italy. It is also apparently the most mountainous region in the south of Italy. 
As for food, the folks at Italia.it say that the "hot pepper (pepperoncino), (is) the real symbol of cuisine in Basilicata, locally known as diavolicchio (little devil)."

The route: 203 kilometers, our first medium mountain stage of the race. Translated, that means the first hills of the race, with the 8km Valico di Serra di San Chirico and then the climb to Viggiano. That climb is 5km long and is covered twice, with a twisting descent in between. Favorites for the day include the pink jersey wearer, Michael Matthews.

The race: Our break of the day is large and interesting: Elia Viviani (Cannondale), Ben Swift (Team Sky), Tyler Farrar and Fabian Wegmann (Garmin-Sharp), Miguel Angel Rubiano (Colombia), Tony Hurel and Bjorn Thurau (Europcar), Marco Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli), Yonathan Monsalve (Neri Sottoli), Kenny Dehaes and Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol). It looked like some of the sprinters were in search of points. Go Swift! Indeed, Swift took the intermediate sprint points and became the new virtual red jersey (leader on the road). 
Eighty kilometers to go and the gap was at four minutes. It bounced around between 3 and 4 minutes for many kilometers. At the King of the Mountain point with 65 kilometers to go, Rubiano took the win over Monsalve and Wegmann. 
Just about 50 kilometers to go and the gap had dropped to under 3 minutes with Sky leading the chase, in hopes of a stage win for Edvald Boasson Hagen (EBH).  A few kilometers on and it was all Orica on the front working for Matthews. The gap dropped dramatically and was hovering between one and two minutes. With 25 kilometers to go, many of the breakaway riders had been reabsorbed into the peloton and it was clear that the bunch could catch the others easily. 
Rain and the pace was picking up. Cue riders falling off the back of the pack. A slow motion crash in the bunch caused a split. Sure enough, as always in times of potential trouble, Evans and BMC were at the front.

Race radio has warned teams and riders of the dangerousness of the descent with the rain. #Giro
— OPQS Cycling Team (@opqscyclingteam) May 14, 2014

Lots of stress in the peloton as they descended in the rain. Fingers crossed they make it down safely. Yikes. Several small spills, but all were soon back up and riding. Ahead, Brambilla took a lead after some aggressive riding. And then, the sunshine was back. Four kilometers to go and Brambilla had 32 seconds. He is currently the virtual race leader. Behind him, the peloton regrouped and was chasing hard. Three kilometers to go and it was down to 18 seconds. Two kilometers and down to nine seconds. 
And then things got interesting fast with some of the GC riders involved, including Cadel Evans. At the end, perfect timing for Diego Ulissi, with Evans finishing second on the stage. 

Diego Ulissi wins in Viggiano! @DiegoUlissi vince a Viggiano! #giro pic.twitter.com/yNFWPeutMF
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 14, 2014

Stage: Diego Ulissi
Pink: Michael Matthews
2 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica Greenedge 0:00:14
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:15
4 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:19
5 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:26
6 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky 0:00:35
7 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:37
8 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:41
9 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:49
10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:52

The wine: Bisceglia Terra di Vulcano 2011
Compliments of Winebow 
The nearest store to me on Winesearcher has a price of $13.95.

From the importer:
The Bisceglia estate is an important and dynamic winery offering a range of top-quality products. After many years in the corporate food industry, Mario Bisceglia returned to his land to begin this adventure and founded the estate in 2001. His goal is to continually produce world-class wines made with both indigenous and international varietals grown in the Basilicata region.

The Bisceglia estate is situated on the lower slopes of the extinct volcano, Mount Vulture, in the splendid district of Lavello. This old farming community is officially recognized as “Wine Town” in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. The winery itself was designed by internationally acclaimed architects Hikaru Mori and Domenico Santomauro, and has state-of-the-art winemaking facilities and aging cellars. The estate extends over pristine hillsides rich in flora and fauna, characterized by a Mediterranean mesoclimate. A natural balance of temperature shifts characterizes this terroir, conferring remarkable fertility to calcareous and clay loam soils.

I say: Aglianico is the main grape of Basilicata and this wine shows it off. Dark cherry and plum with spice and hints of smoke. Plenty of body, with both tannin and acidity. An easy to drink wine that paired nicely with a sausage pizza.

Giro Stage 4: Bouhanni Wins on a Neutralized Day

Where are we: Back in Italy! To be exact, in Puglia heading from Giovinazzo to  Bari. Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto to the south. Its southernmost portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy.

The route: 112 flat kilometers. A very short stage that will end in eight laps of the city of Bari. The question of the day will be how do the riders react after the very long transfer from Dublin and the very early rest day. 

The race: The big news coming out of the race day is the early departure of Marcel Kittel, due to a fever. He was dominating the early sprints and would have been the favorite for today's stage. My fantasy team is hoping for Ben Swift. 
Our morning started with a rider protest due to unsafe conditions. A neutralized stage? Rain and slick roads had the riders very concerned about the technical finish laps and they started the day as a leisurely ride. It is an interesting situation as the race clearly wanted them to race, but the riders decided as a group that it was not worth the risk of injury. Lucas Paolini seemed to be the chief negotiator on the road.

Seems like they will neutralize the circuits in Bari. Sorry but why the hell did they make them in the first place? Crazy dangerous! #giro
— Mikkel Condé v2.0 (@mrconde) May 13, 2014

So it went. With the roads looking a bit more dry, the speed picked up, but would anyone attempt a break?

Italian roads grippy in dry but big change in wet. Olive groves can make roads oily + rare rain means roads not washed, greasy film in rain
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) May 13, 2014

Italian word of the day: "uno sbadiglio", a yawn
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) May 13, 2014

Some dissension became visible in the peloton as they ambled through Bari. Some riders clearly wanted to race, others disagreed. Hey, look, Bernie Eisel! He appeared annoyed. Word finally came down that there would be no bonifications (bonus seconds) at the finish of the stage, thus Matthews will remain in pink. 

Official decision. The time will be taken when the riders start on the final lap. No bonus seconds. #giro
— Mikkel Condé v2.0 (@mrconde) May 13, 2014

35 kilometers to go and suddenly, racing. An intermediate sprint, won by Viviani. It appeared that there would be no bonus seconds awarded, but that the points would still count towards the red points jersey. Maybe.

This stage has all the organization of a midcentury Italian Parliament meeting.
— nyvelocity (@nyvelocity) May 13, 2014

Around and around they went, giving the teams time to practice their sprint leadouts. A mechanical for Bouhanni. The most excitement of the day came as he struggled to get back to the peloton in time for the sprint. Bell lap and there went many of the riders. Sprint trains to the front. And then bedlam. Crash after crash after crash. At the end, a very impressive sprint from a very small group from Bouhanni.

Stage: Nacer Bouhanni
Pink: Michael Matthews

The wine: Leone de Castris Salice Salento 2010
This wine was a sample provided by Winebow. 

From the importer: 
Founded in 1665 by the Spanish Duke Oronzo, Earl of Lemos, in the Italian region of Puglia, Leone de Castris has been exporting wine since the beginning of the 19th century.

Leone de Castris specializes in traditional Apulian wines. This exceptional wine commemorates the winery's 50th anniversary vintage, or "vendemmia," which has been featured on the label since 2004. This wine is made from hand-harvested, select grapes from the Salice Salentino DOC, a picturesque wine region dotted with ancient watchtowers and old farmhouses, just north of the village of Lecce. 
Tasting Notes: Intense ruby-red in color, concentrated aromas of black cherries and baked red fruits complement undertones of plums, spices, vanilla, and anise. On the palate, velvety tannins and a full body frame the long, delectable finish of stewed strawberries and vanilla beans. 
Food Pairing: Pair this wine with well-aged steaks, demi-glaces, barbecue, and farsumagru.

I say:  Back in Italy and back to the wine. The Salento is a blend of Negroamaro, the most common grape in the region and and Malvasia Nera di Lecce. Very dark and purple in the glass. Sweet black cherries, some nutmeg, notes of roasted blackberries, not nearly as heavy as it looks. Very smooth. I had this bottle over the course of three nights and thought it held up beautifully. 
To stay regional with the suggested food pairings above, maybe orrecchietti with a strong meat sauce. I opted for a meat lasagne from Matarello.

Wines of the Giro Stage 3: Birthday Boy Kittel & Tyrconnell

Where are we: Heading South from Armagh to Dublin in a 187km cross border section that will leave Armagh and head south, crossing the border at Forkhill en route to Dublin, via Dundalk, Castlebellingham and Drogheda. Somewhere, probably my mother's basement, there are pictures of me in Drogheda, wearing a pink Esprit sweatshirt and the glasses that I thought were a good idea as a high school freshman. Yikes!

The route: 187 flat kilometers that are likely to end in a bunch sprint. But maybe a few crosswinds along the way to keep things interesting? Our favorite for the win, again, is Marcel Kittel.

The race: Happy birthday to Marcel Kittel and Adam Hansen! I've said it before, but Hansen is one of my favorite cyclists on Twitter. More on him here.
Neither of them are in our break of the day, instead: Yonder Godoy (Androni), Maarten Tjallingii (Belkin), Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Colombia), Gert Dockx (Lotto Belisol) and Giorgio Cecchinel (Neri Sottoli - Yellow Fluo). The break is not being given much of a chance today, with 100 kilometers to go, they had only a bit over three minutes. With ninety kilometers to go, the gap was already under two minutes. Great crowds again, despite the wet weather. 
Seventy five kilometers to go and the gap was out again to around four minutes. Also, more rain and very wet images of the finish in Dublin have been alternating with hints of blue sky. 

Drogheda! And a Bernie Eisel sighting. Giro thought: Sky's lack of a gc (general classification) contender means less Eisel at the front of the peloton. Caduta! (crash) Lots of bikes on the road, but everyone was soon back up and riding. 
Race update:

giroditalia 7:03am via web

55 km to go: @GiantShimano and @EquipeFDJ leading the bunch. 4'14'' for the break. #giro

I spent a summer at a school in Gormanston when I was in high school. Blink and you could miss it along today's route. Forty kilometers to go and the gap was just under three minutes. Ahead, there are repeated issues with the barriers in Dublin. Another crash on a roundabout and a few went down hard, though all got back on.

Nueva caída a la salida de una rotonda con varios OGE al suelo. #giro pic.twitter.com/ykOLfTcxZO
— Cobbles & Hills (@cobblesandhills) May 11, 2014

Thirty kilometers to go and the gap was about one and a half minutes. Here come the GC guys to the front to try to stay out of trouble. That trouble? Likely to be caused by the tight narrow roads, with lots of technical sections and speed bumps. Twenty kilometers to go and the gap was just under one minute.

Crosswinds and sure enough Cadel Evans and his BMC team to the front. Fourteen kilometers to go and the gap was down to ten seconds. Ever so slowly, they were caught with Cecchine briefly taking off in search of the day's combativity prize. Under seven kilometers to go and the bunch was all together. 

And, wow, from seemingly out of nowhere, it was the birthday boy, Kittel with the win. I thought for a moment or two there that Swift would take the stage. But, no, a very impressive win for Kittel.

Stage winner: Marcel Kittel
Pink: Michael Matthews

The wine: Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey: Named after a race horse. Seems like a perfect whiskey for a likely sprint stage. On the other hand, Guinness would have also been a fine choice.

From the producer: Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey is an historic Irish whiskey brand from the 1900’s named after a horse that won a legendary race at odds of 100 to 1. Made from 100% malted barley in traditional copper pot stills Tyrconnell has a beautiful fresh, fruity bouquet with a smooth sweet taste and a delicate dry finish.

Colour: Golden Yellow
Nose: Full and fruity aroma with a citrus – spiciness taste
Taste: Well structured with honey notes hanging from the nose. A tang of oranges and lemons, a strong malt presence that balances well with the oily sweetness
Finish: A long finish with the malt becoming more dominant to the end without the soft fruits and honey, which helped make up the middle.
Alcohol content: 40%
Serving Suggestions: The Tyrconnell can be served neat in a tumbler, or with a little water to taste.  

I say: Neat in a tumbler indeed. Like the Bushmills, smooth and easy to drink. Honey and fruit dominate. My favorite of the three "Giro whiskeys."

Giro Stage 2: Kittel (As Expected) and Bushmills

Where are we: Still in Northern Ireland. Starting at the Titanic Quarter, (cue sinking ship jokes), and then on to Antrim, Ballymena, Bushmills (whiskey!), the Giant's Causeway, Cushendall, Larne, Whitehead, Carrickfergus before returning to Belfast.  

The route: Today we have 219 kilometers, heading further north and then back to Belfast along the coast. Weather may be an issue. Perhaps crosswinds will provide some excitement, but a bunch sprint is likely. The favorite of the day? Probably Marcel Kittel. Have i mentioned too many times already how I wish Cav was here?

The stage: Yesterday provided a bit more excitement than expected, with the Dan Martin crash. He is not starting today, along with Koldo Fernandez who missed the time cut. Early on, there was the usual formation of the likely to be doomed break, this time featuring Jeffry Johan Romero Corredor of Colombia, Maarten Tjallingii of Belkin Pro Cycling Team, Sander Armee of Lotto Belisol, and Andrea Fedi of Neri Sottoli - Yellow Fluo. Of course, it was raining, which led to a few rather expected crashes along the route. Meanwhile, the announcers were asking for questions on twitter: a sure sign that they expected a rather dull stage, until the finish.
Our first King of the Mountain winner: Maarten Tjallingii. A second 4th category climb would come later in the stage. A time check: the gap was around 5 and a half minutes with 79 kilometers to go. With 60 kilometers to go, it had dropped to 4 and a half minutes. 

Plenty of horsepower in the #giro peloton. pic.twitter.com/zotXmVrkTd
— Dan Wuori (@dwuori) May 10, 2014

Moving along, the gap was at about three and a half minutes with 40 kilometers to go. Thirty three to go and it was down to two and a half minutes. Such it went, until towards the end, Tjallingi attempted a solo escape. He was, to the surprise of absolutely no one, caught, setting up the expected sprint finish. Also expected, the winner of the day, Marcel Kittel. 
Kind of a dull stage, but at least they mainly stayed upright in the rain.

Stage: Marcel Kittle
Pink:  Michael Matthews

The wine: Bushmills 10-Year Single Malt Whiskey, from what is probably the oldest distillery still in operation. A license to distill was granted by King James 1 in 1608. The
The Old Bushmills Distillery was registered in 1784. 
 
From the producer:  So‚ the first of the single malts‚ and one that will leave you with an exceptionally smooth finish. The distinctive Bushmills light fruity aroma travels over the lip of your tumbler to deliver 10 years of maturation mostly in bourbon seasoned barrels. That old Kentucky spirit becomes melted chocolate and honey that sits on the tongue and‚ for me‚ slightly dries the back of the throat.”

I say: Smooth and very easy to drink. Soft comes to mind. Fruity, with notes of vanilla and caramel.

Giro Stage 1: A Team Time Trial in Belfast = Whiskey

Where are we: Belfast, Northern Ireland. Indeed, this year's "Big Start" has 2 days of racing in Northern Ireland before the riders head to Dublin for the third stage 3. Why? Well, why not? Seriously though, in recent years, the Giro has a tradition of starting abroad every other year. This time, Belfast, where I expect perhaps far too many twitter jokes connecting the Titanic shipyard and the sinking ships of certain teams. We shall see.

The route: Starting things off a 21.7 km team time trial, with the stage starting in the Titanic shipyard. I've explained team time trials before, here and here, essentially though, in a TTT,  each team rides together with the time taken as the fifth rider crosses the line. As I've also said before, a TTT rarely wins a Grand Tour for a rider, but a loss of time to rivals can be significant. This course looks to be flat and fast, though weather may be an issue. 

For the record, my fantasy cycling team at the race is making me miss Cav. Team Oolongcat is bringing: Adam Hansen, Alessandro Petacchi, Ben Swift, Bernhard Eisel, Brent Bookwalter, Ivan Basso, Johnny Hoogerland, Manuel Quinziato, Moreno Moser, Ryder Hesjedal, and Steve Morabito. 

Also for the record, my race "rules." 

 Before we start: 

Our favorite for the Maglia Rosa? Here he is! Thank you @pontifex Pope Francis. #Giro pic.twitter.com/tfr204IYeg
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 9, 2014

The race: Yes, that is the city hall of Belfast all lit up in pink to celebrate the start of the Giro. See also: sheep with their wool colored pink. 
True story: On the walk to school this morning, my daughter told me what she was happy that the Giro was starting today. It turns out she did not enjoy my rendition of "The Giro Starts Friday/Tomorrow," that I had been singing all week. Sung, by the way, to the tune of "Tomorrow" from Annie.

The order of the day:

17:50 Colombia
17:55 Orica-GreenEdge
18:00 Tinkoff-Saxo
18:05 FDJ.fr
18:10 Team Katusha
18:15 Movistar Team
18:20 Lotto-Belisol
18:25 Trek Factory Racing
18:30 Belkin Pro Cycling Team
18:35 Team Europcar
18:40 Lampre-Merida
18:45 Team Sky
18:50 Cannondale
18:55 Team Giant-Shimano
19:00 AG2R La Mondiale
19:05 Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela
19:10 Garmin-Sharp
19:15 Bardiani-CSF
19:20 BMC Racing Team
19:25 Omega Pharma-Quick Step
19:30 Astana Pro Team
19:35 Neri Sottoli

Great crowds along the road. And what is that, rain at the finish? That may make things more interesting. As expected, Orica GreenEdge took the early lead. First to cross the line for them, and the likely first wearer of the pink race leader's jersey, is Svein Tuft, the birthday boy. The first possibly significant news though was the really poor showing by Katusha. How much time will J-Rod/Purito have lost to his rivals by the end of the day? 
Halfway through and the top five were:

1 @ORICA_GreenEDGE 0:24:42
2 @tinkoff_saxo 0:00:23
3 @Movistar_Team 0:00:55
4 @TrekFactory 0:01:00
5 @TeamBelkin 0:01:01

A negative split by SKY brought them into third. If only they had a GC rider here. Alas, injuries and illnesses have them with a rather odd team here this year. 

inrng 11:11am via web

Joaquim Rodriguez after Katusha's team time trial: "muy jodido" ("really f*%ked") via @JAEzquerro

And then as the roads seemed to be drying out, a big crash for Garmin. Dan Martin went down and stayed down. Early signs pointed to a collarbone injury. 

From twitter:

Jonathan Vaughters ‏@Vaughters 1m

So sad. Nothing to be done. Professional bike racing is cruel.

Back on the road, as the Garmin stragglers continued to finish, BMC came in with the second best time, seven seconds down on Orica. A good day for the GC hopes of Cadel Evans. That second place lasted only briefly as OPQS came in two seconds ahead of BMC. 
At the end of the day, our top 10:

1	Orica Greenedge	0:24:42
2	Omega Pharma-QuickStep	0:00:05
3	BMC	0:00:07
4	Tinkoff-Saxo	0:00:23
5	Team Sky	0:00:35
6	Cannondale	0:00:53
7	Movistar Team	0:00:55
8	Giant-Shimano	0:00:56
9	Ag2r-La Mondiale	0:00:58
10	Trek Factory Racing	0:01:00

 

Maglia rosa: Svein Tuft (Happy birthday indeed!)

Wine: Well, whiskey of the day. Rather than engage in a likely to be fruitless search for Irish wine, for the Giro's opening weekend, why not try some whiskey? I naively assumed that I would have no problem finding bottles made along the daily routes. Instead, I discovered, thanks to Serious Eats and several whiskey salespeople, that there are only ten distilleries either operating or under construction, but that two of the ten aren't open yet, and three have whiskey stocks not sufficiently aged for sale. So I opted for as close as possible, which meant skipping a few highly recommended bottles. As always, price is also a consideration, which means no $100 bottles.

The first of the three I'll be drinking while the race is in Ireland. I meant to start out with Bushmills, but tomorrow's route rides right by.  So for today, Michael Collins. How could I resist a bottle with a bike on the label to start the Giro? Made at the Cooley Distillery. 
 
 Note: Like during the Tour de France last year, my picks will be on the Podium Cafe website, along with their stage previews. The write-up for the first three stages can be found here.

From the importer website: Traditionally, Irish whiskey is a triple-distilled product, but Michael Collins switched things up by double-distilling and using peated malted barley in its single malt. Made at the Cooley Distillery, which was recently acquired by Jim Beam for $95 million, both the blended Michael Collins Irish Whiskey ($22) and Michael Collins 10 Year Old Single Malt ($40) are double-distilled in small, long-necked copper pot stills. Both are aged in bourbon casks.
The Single Malt earned Best Irish Whiskey and Double Gold at the 2011 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, earning critics’ admiration for its sweet nose of caramel, rich ripe fruit, peat and white flowers, followed by a clean palate with a smoky finish.

The blended Michael Collins might be the best value in all of whiskey. It earned the 2011 Chairman’s Trophy at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge. Both Michael Collins whiskies are a great tribute to the man on the bicycle who negotiated Ireland’s 1921 Treaty of Independence. 

I say: I'm drinking the 10 year single malt. It is the smokiest of the three Giro offerings, with vanilla on top of fruit and honey. To me and I am far from an expert on such things, it tastes kind of like Scotch. Turns out that the Whiskey Advocate did not love it. On the other hand, it has also won awards. 
Since it is our opening stage, I decided to try a cocktail.  After some consideration, I suggest an Emerald, which I found on Serious Eats.  What is in it? Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth and orange bitters, in this case, homemade from a long ago bitters making project.

Coming Very Soon: The Giro!

The wines and whiskeys (spoiler) are being pre-tasted and it is almost time. Coming Friday, May 9th, Wines of the Giro returns.