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STAGE 3 AMOREBIETA-ETXANO>BAYONNE, 193.5km On the way to France The race starts in Amorebieta-Etxano in the Spanish Basque; up the hills, around the twists and turns, back through San Sebastian along the narrow roads, through beautiful towns along the Atlantic coast of the Basque Region of Spain and France, on to the finish in Bayonne, France. The race will cross from Spain to France with about 50 km left in the race. The countryside has been gorgeous these first 3 days of the 2023 Tour de France. Phil Ligget, NBC commentator highlighted it as, “… the race has been a moving postcard.” Check out the On the Road with the Tour section on the Tour website. The race has not disappointed either, I think the riders have been phenomenal. Congratulations to Neilson Powless, currently wearing the polka-dot jersey as King of the Mountains. He has led the race during the first 3 days for an extraordinary 170km and has finished 1st on 9 of 11 mountain climbs. Spectacular ride Neilson Powless! More about Stage 3 below or go to the Tour website.  Neilson Powless, Team EF Education EasyPost, team photo. THE WINE Today I am continuing to drink Txakolina, THE wine of the Basque regions of Spain and France. The sea, the mountains, and the climate grow grapes that ripen with great acidity and flavors of ripe lemons with a sense of salinity. That all explains why these wines are fantastic with local seafood, cheese, and stews, or food from the Pacific Northwest of the US. Grapes have grown in the Basque region since at least the 1300s. As with many old wine-growing regions, vineyards have shrunk and then revived over time. In Getaria the restoration began in the 1980s. You can see a beautiful picture of the village at about 86.4 km of the Tour. The riders raced around the edge of this picturesque fishing village, home to the DO Getariako Txakolina, the organization protects and represents the painstaking work of the family-owned wineries that create Getariako Txakolina.  Txakolina with glass. by Lisa Kolick THE RACE The race was “like a rest day” after the riders got through the first 90km, which included significant climbs. Neilson Powless, Team EF Education, and Laurent Pichon, Team Arkéa, lead from early on until the last climb when Powless took the points and dropped back. Pichon continued on his own until the peloton caught him with about 37km left in the stage. The last 100km were somewhat “easy”. Sprinters were able to restore their energy and get ready for the last 20km and the sprint, which begins to set up with 3km to go. The sprint finish was a hotly contested, elbows-out, classic bunch sprint with Jasper Philipsen winning the stage. Mark Cavendish finished 6th today, still in search of his 35th stage win in the Tour de France.  Stage 4 Map. Official Tour de France map. Stage 4 begins in Dax, France, and finishes in Nogaro, France; 182km flat stage. The race is now in France until the finish. Stage 4 is expected to be fast with a faster finish on the Circuit Paul Armagnac, in Nogaro, France.
Join me tomorrow, I will be writing about Armagnac; a brandy distilled from wine made with a blend of white grapes from Gascony in southwest France. Santé Comments are closed.
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