Stage 7 was our first mountain stage. Mountain stages to me are what bike racing is all about. The stage was on the shorter end at 168 km long, and featured 3,500 meters of climbing across four categorized climbs. The final climb, Tagliacozzo, brought us up to the finish line and was one of only two mountaintop finishes in this year’s Giro. It is one of the “easier” Category 1 climbs, it’s 12 km long, with an average gradient of 5.5 percent. But the final 2 km had an average gradient of 10 percent, meaning the hardest bit was the end of the climb.

The GC contenders made it together to the final kilometer of the climb and then the attacks began. Juan Ayuso, a Spanish rider on UAE Emirates, won the stage today. UAE Emirates is the team in cycling, they have the most money and have a stacked roster. Ayuso’s teammate, Isaac Del Toro from Mexico got second place. Ayuso takes the lead on the GC, and Roglič (on Red Bull-Bora) lost 4 seconds to Ayuso by the end of the day.

The Dish

Meat is the name of the game in Abruzzo. Lamb is particularly popular in the region. But I am going for a roasted pork shoulder, more typical of Molise where the stage started today. It’s a dish that feels very Puerto Rican to me, so I was excited to see how it came out.

Reflections

I cut the pork shoulder into large chunks (per the recipe) to help the pork cook more quickly and evenly. I salted it a few hours early and then before cooking seasoned simply with vinegar, pepper, and oregano. I kept it covered for the first 2 hours in the oven, and uncovered it for the final 30 minutes to brown. I probably should have cooked for half an hour less given the size, but it sure was tasty and reminded me of home. I paired it with some leftover white rice to keep things easy on the cooking front.

Since the Giro went through Abruzzo today, drinking a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo would have been a no-brainer. But I didn’t have one in my collection! So rather than going out to buy a new bottle I went with a Rosso Piceno from the neighboring region of Marche, which is where the Giro heads tomorrow! Ciao!