Giro 2022 - Stage 11: Santarcangelo di Romagna – Reggio Emilia 203 km ***Spoilers***

Stage 11: Santarcangelo di Romagna – Reggio Emilia 203 km
Wednesday, May 18th, 11:20 BST

This stage could rival last Thursday's for boredom.
A pan-flat stage across the lowlands of Emilia-Romagna, along the Via Emilia on straight and mostly wide roads. As the stage passes through several urban areas, roundabouts, traffic islands and street furniture will be found along the route.



The route detours just once, looping to the North, just after Bologna. Stage 11 is one of the longest races on the Giro. The race between Santarcangelo di Romagna and Reggio Emilia adds up to 203 kilometres.



Final kms
The final kilometres are on wide and well-surfaced roads, with roundabouts, traffic dividers, pedestrian islands and speed being the main obstacles. The home straight is 350 m long, on 7‑m wide tarmac.





What to Expect:

Boredom. Few will fancy getting into the break, as the sprinter teams will be all over this stage.
That should be done with as soon as the flag drops. Then nothing for about 5 hours. The speed will go up and we will then probably have a crash or two, as riders struggle to regain focus.
Buncho sprinto.

Favourites 11th stage 2022 Giro d’Italia

***** Caleb Ewan, Mark Cavendish
**** Arnaud Démare, Fernando Gaviria
*** Phil Bauhaus, Cees Bol, Mattheu van der Poel, Biniam Girmay
** Giacomo Nizzolo, Simoni Consonni, Alberto Dainese
* Ed Theuns, Sacha Modolo, David Cimolai


Reggio Emilia Parmigiano Reggiano Food Stage

To give this stage it's full title. Yes, to try and alleviate some of the inevitable boredom, the RCS have Christened this stage "The Food Stage".





However, it's not just the world famous cheese that is being celebrated but the stage dedicated to food of Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna and Reggio Emilia.

Santarcangelo di Romagna

Walking through the town’s lanes, you will find lots of restaurants, trattoria, taverns and piadinerie where you can enjoy truly mouth-watering, delicious cuisine from the local area. There are also many shops where you can buy locally produced food, typical to the area. One interesting aspect of the local cuisine is the onion; many years ago, Santarcangelo was famous for its onions cultivated “from water”, so much so that the people from Rimini mocked them, calling them “Zvùléun”, “Cipolloni” or “Big Onions”.
This type of onion is still grown and is very tasty when eaten raw with radicchio, seasoned with local extra-virgin olive oil, coarse salt, Sangiovese wine vinegar and a grilled sausage in a steaming hot piadina. This is considered Santarcangelo’s typical ‘street food’ and is popular during the San Martino Fair.



According to an old legend, hundreds of years ago, the town’s Franciscan monks were great produces of red wine. One day, the convent organised a banquet in honour of a distinguished guest, offering him the best red wine from their cellar, as they were keen to make a good impression. The guest immediately wanted to know the name of this excellent wine.
After a moment of uncertainty, one of the monks suddenly stood up and exclaimed, “Sanguis Jovis” or “Sangue di Giove” (Jupiter’s Blood) thinking of the wine’s intense red colour and the name of Jupiter Hill, where Santarcangelo’s old town and the convent were located.

Over time, the two words joined together to become “Sangiovese”.



Reggio Emilia

The creativity of the Reggio Emilia cuisine has mainly developed in the first courses: the king of first courses, that is cappelletto in broth; tortelli: filled with pumpkin, typical of the Po River plain, or green, with a filling of chard and spinach; green lasagna, rice bomb and homemade tagliatelle, which in the mountains area are served with mushrooms sauce. For starters: Erbazzone Reggiano, the most characteristic culinary production of Reggio Emilia, deserves a special mention; it is a salted pie made with spinach or chard, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and onion.



Not to be missed are Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, properly called the King of Cheeses, and two drops of Reggio Emilia Traditional Balsamic Vinegar: refined flavours for demanding tastes.



Since ancient times, the Romans knew the oenological vocation of the Reggio Emilia land and appreciated the Lambrusco vine. The clusters of that vine still give birth to a sparkling wine, which has always accompanied the first and second courses of traditional Reggio Emilia cuisine. For lovers of white wines, the Colli di Scandiano and Canossa Spergola PDO will surprise. At the end of the meal, a glass of Nocino (nut liqueur) is never missing: it is an ancient liqueur linked to popular tradition, prepared with walnuts collected on St. John’s night.