A voi! Stage 15: Holy Madonna, more mountains

Luckily everyone had a bit of a rest on Saturday because these mountains are going to hurt. What you say? They killed themselves in a long timetrial? Well, in that case this could be a disaster for whoever is suffering after-effects from that. 

This will be the toughest high mountain challenge yet with the combination of the two final climbs. The Passo Daone is the tougher of the two with an average of 9.2 % over 8.4km

With an Astana team who has their leader 2:28 down they should be starting to make the ace here at the latest if Aru is fit for fight after the TT. The last climb comes straight after the descent so there is no dreary valley to navigate which should be optimal for anyone wanting to ride the stage aggressively. The final climb is pretty gentle in gradient but on the other hand it's long and timegaps could build up for whoever is hurting.

* Insert obligatory Marco Pantani mention here*

Chi vincerà?

Mikel Landa: Lets play with the idea that Astana try and play some games but Tinkoff and Alberto don't really want to play along. Could be a good Landa moment. Or Ulissi could take it? He has before even if  Madonna di Campiglio was in Poland that time.

Amy's Food & Vino del giorno

Wine: Maraschino Luxardo
Luxardo Maraschino follows the original recipe from 1821 and requires four years to produce this specialty.  Marasca cherries are harvested from Luxardo’s own trees and the solid components are then infused in larchwood.  The product is distilled in small copper pot stills.  Finally a combination of sugar and water is added before bottling.

Food: There are plenty of cocktails that one can make with Luxardo, but I generally use it to make boozy cherries.That said, there is an extensive list here of cocktails featuring Luxardo.I have a post here on my boozy cherrymaking process.  But it is essentially as simple as: wash and sort through your cherries, removing any leaves, place them in a large jar and cover with Luxardo.