Giro 2024:- Stage 9: Avezzano – Napoli, 214.0k​m ***Spoilers***

I am posting two stages this evening as I will be travelling tomorrow afternoon and could well forget, after arriving.

Stage 9: Avezzano – Napoli, 214.0k​m

May 12th.

Start Time: 11-15.

Stage clearly divided into two parts. The first 180 km are the run-up to a demanding finale with short and punchy climbs. The first part is predominantly flat and takes place mainly on mostly straight roads interspersed with numerous tunnels. The riders then race parallel to the Tyrrhenian coast before heading to the Monte di Procida area and tackling the last kilometres. The roads are in good condition, but with narrow carriageways and continuous changes of direction and gradient. To be noted, after Torregaveta, the sudden 14% wall that leads to Lake Lucrino. Here, the riders will turn for Pozzuoli and Posillipo. Naples city centre will be reached after the long descent along Via Posillipo.

map

final kilometres

The last 3 km are perfectly flat along Via Dohrn and Via Caracciolo heading east to turn around a roundabout at the last km and retrace Via Caracciolo to the finish. The final straight is 900 m long and 9 m wide on asphalt.

Avezzano

The town of Avezzano is located in the centre of Marsica, a historical area of Abruzzo in the province of L’Aquila. Lying on the north-western edge of the Fucino basin, it is dominated to the north by the Monte Velino massif, the third highest mountain in the Apennines and constitutes an important geographical junction in the Apennine area of central-southern Italy. It is located halfway between Rome and Pescara. The city managed to recover well from the Marsica earthquake of 13 January 1915, ranked among the major seismic events in Italy in terms of destructive force and number of victims, about thirty thousand.

Napoli

Naples is one of the most populated towns of Italy and there are almost one million inhabitants.Since from the Ancient time, it has been a multicultural town, a destination longed for by many polpulations who have succeeded in time and have shaped its aspect and culture.Walking in the heart of the old city is retracing the town history. In fact, through the long and characterisic streets, the churches architectures and ancient nobiliary buildings are evident different stratifications that show different historical and artistic influences. In fact in 1995 the historical center of Naples was declared from UNESCO “world cultural heritage”. Among the most famous streets there is Spaccanapoli, a very long street that, if seen from the top of Vomero hill, seems to split in two the historical centre. Then there is Saint Gregorio Armeno street that is famous for the artisan shops of nativity scenes. A stop-over in the cathedral is suggested to see the chapel of Saint Gennaro considered one of the masterpieces of the baroque art.

Food

If any food should be associated with Naples, it would definitely be pizza: the classic and most famous “pizza Margherita”, topped with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and a leaf of basil, has been joined by many new and refined “gourmet” recipes, recently in vogue and able to suit all tastes. Pizza, in Naples, is a “serious matter” and the job of “making it” is considered as pure art: that is why nothing is improvised, and its preparation is made of precise gestures and procedures, wisely handed down from one artisan to another. In fact, in 2017 the “art of Neapolitan pizza-makers” was declared “Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO, thereby recognising pizza’s cultural relevance and identity value as a “Neapolitan (quality) brand”.

Neapolitan pastry offers plenty of delights; sweet lovers can not miss a stop in a traditional pastry-shop to taste one of the local delicacies: the famous “Babà”, offered by every café and restaurants, either in its classic rum-flavored recipe, or covered in custard, cream or chocolate; still, the traditional “Sfogliatella”, a pastry with a delicious filling of semolina, ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar, candied fruit cut into small pieces, either wrapped in a shell-shaped crunchy puff pastry (the so called “riccia”) or surrounded by a round-shape thick shortbread (“frolla”) Babà and Sfogliatella flavoured ice cream definitely deserves tasting too.