TDF 2024:- Stage 3: Piacenza - Turin 230.5km ***Spoilers***

Stage 3: Piacenza - Turin 230.5km

July 1st

Start Time: 10-15BST

Stage 3 of the Tour de France 2024 is a 230.8km flat road stage from Piacenza to Turin.It features a visit to Tortona, which was home to Il Campionissimo Fausto Coppi. Although the route features three KOMs, the hills are nothing special. Neither in length, nor in gradients. The riders cross the Po Valley from east to west. Therefore the race between Piacenza and Turin is likely to see a fast finishers showdown.

Profile.

Map.

The Climbs.

Côte de Tortone Fausto Coppi (Cat. 4)

Côte de Barbaresco (Cat. 4)

Côte de Sommariva Perno (Cat. 4)

Côte de Barbaresco (Category 4)

The climb of the Côte de Barbaresco is 1.5km at an average 6.5%, to a height of 263m after 156.1km raced.

The climb is through Barbaresco vineyards.

Last Kilometres

Leaving Moncalieri, the race takes the Strada Torino along the left bank of the Po.

There's a sharp left over the Ponte Principessa Isabella di Savoia (Princess Isabelle of Savoie bridge), joining the Corso Dante Alighieri on the far side of the river.

Then there's one more sharp turn, this one to the right onto Corso Massimo d'Azeglio. It runs past the Parco and Castello del Valentino.

What to Expect.

Probably a big crash, or maybe several smaller ones. After all, this is the first, nailed on sprint finish. The sprinter teams to control, the GC teams to hit the front at around the 10km mark, the elbows to start nudging from about the 5 km mark and a frenetic last km. In other words, we all know what to expect.

PIACENZA

Municipality of Emilia-Romagna

No previous stage.

Population: 103,000

Piacenza and Cycling.

Piacenza's best-known and most successful cyclist is none other than 2010-2011 double world road champion Giorgia Bronzini, who also won five stages in the Giro. Known for her fun-loving personality, the former points race specialist now heads up the Lidl-Trek women's team, which she took over in 2019 at the end of her career.

Other than that, Piacenza is the hometown of Georgio Armani.

Specialities: anolini (pasta), pancetta, coppa, bortellina (pancakes), pisarei e faso (pasta with beans), mostarda di frutte (fruit with mustard), turtei (pasta filled with spinach and ricotta). Colli Piacentini wines. Gutturnio and Bonarda (red wines), Ortrugo and Mavasia (white wines)

Anolini from Piacenza

Anolini is a type of stuffed egg pasta from Emilia, more specifically from Parma and Piacenza. They are prepared by placing balls of filling between two sheets of pastry and cutting around the filling with special metal moulds that can be circular or with serrated edges; the pressure of the mould secures the edges of the pastry sheet. The filling is based on beef. After cooking, the meat is finely chopped with the vegetables from the cooking base, then salt, nutmeg and egg are added before kneading with parmigiana.

Pisarei e fasò

This simple, rustic dish hails from Piacenza and is prepared with merely a few humble ingredients. Namely, the word pisarei denotes tiny dumplings made with flour and breadcrumbs, whereas fasò is a thick tomato flavored sauce made with a base of onions, lard, and mashed borlotti beans.

Turin

Capital of Piedmont

Stage town for the fifth time.

Population: 843,000

TURIN AND CYCLING

Thanks to its proximity to the French border, Turin has already featured on the route of the Tour de France four times, in 1956, 1961, 1966 and 1996. Since 1876, Turin has been the finishing town for Milan-Turin, the oldest cycling race still organised, which in recent years has seen such diverse profiles as Alberto Contador, Rigoberto Uran, Thibaut Pinot, Primoz Roglic and Mark Cavendish or Arnaud Démare raise their arms. Its last winner was Dutch sprinter Arvin De Kleijn. The Giro has stopped here almost 50 times, the last stage winner being Simon Yates in 2022. It was in Turin that Serse Coppi, Fausto's brother, died in 1951 after a crash during the Tour of Piedmont. 

Specialities: agnolotti (stuffed ravioli), tajarin (truffle pasta), Barolo risotto, polenta carbonara, chicken chasseur, stuffed artichokes, gianduiotto (chocolate), Bicerin, vermouth. Gressins. Sabayon.

Gianduja

Gianduja is a paste of chocolate and finely ground hazelnuts, to which other nuts (almonds or, more rarely, walnuts) may also be added, along with icing sugar and fat (cocoa butter, pastry butter or crème fraîche). A successful gianduia is characterised by its creaminess. One hypothesis is that the name derives from a character in the commedia dell'arte nicknamed "Gioan d'la douja" (John of the pint), or "Gianduja". This character was to become one of the symbols of Turin.

Vermouth.

Vermouth is a quintessential European aperitif. This sweetened and fortified wine is aromatized with various botanicals, and it is usually classified as red (sweet) or white (dry). The origin of vermouth is ancient and closely connected to wormwood wine, but the first official vermouth was produced in Turin by Antonio Benedetto Carpano.