The Stage

Today was a “gravel” stage — a 181 km route with 2,500 meters, one categorized climb, and five gravel sectors. Beyond making a really exciting stage to watch, the Tuscan countryside that the riders rode through today were some of the most beautiful landscapes imaginable.

It’s hard to capture everything that happened in the stage — sports is just reality TV with more stats. A crash in the middle stage created chaos and completely changed the shape of the GC. Significant gaps were created as several groups formed across the road. Isaac del Toro, a young rider from Mexico with UAE Emirates, took the leader’s jersey, and his team overall has 4 riders (including del Toro) in the top 10 of the GC. Wout van Aert, a Belgian rider on Visma Lease-a-Bike won the stage, his first win of the season after a string of 2nd and 3rds, and adds him to the list of riders who have won a stage in every one of the three grand tours.

The Dish & Reflections

For today I found an Umbrian version of fish sticks: cod fritters. I took some cod fillets and sliced them up, dipped them in batter, and pan-fried them in olive oil. I had the oil a bit too cold and I made the batter a bit too thick. While the cod was cooked well, it never got quite as golden as I would have like. I served it with a salad, and skipped the wine pairing for today. Nice and easy!

Tomorrow we have a rest day so you will hear from me next on Tuesday for stage 10, an individual time trial that is sure to shake up the GC further.