Giro d’Italia and three weeks on the ‘Bella Vita’ trail

The only thing the Italians take more seriously than the Giro d’Italia during the month of May is food, wine, and the quest for good living.

The tifosi might be going mad this month as the pink jersey makes its annual parade, the Italian’s love for the good life is a year-long pursuit.

Perhaps no country in Europe can match Italy’s passion for the good things of life. And there’s no better way to enjoy Italy’s “Bella vita” than the three-week Giro d’Italia.

And race organizers go out of their way to show off Italy’s diverse and rich gastronomical delights. Each stage offers the perfect opportunity for locals to share their passion not only for cycling and the maglia rosa, but also for what’s on offer in Italy’s varied menu.

Journalists, staffers, race personnel, and other hangers on often indulge in these delights at the daily press buffet. And locals go way out of their way to make the race entourage feel welcome.

Every day is another culinary adventure.

Anyone watching the opening stages this year would have noticed the barbecues and the lamb kebabs that are the local delicacy in the Abruzzo region. “Arrosticini” are part of any local meal.

Every stage will have its local delicacy on display. The stage around Napoli rolled through the region of the famed mozzarella di bufala and, of course, the famed napoletana pizza.

As the race turns north, the famous prosciutto crudo and bresaola await in the Po Valley and in the northern mountains.

And then there’s the wine. Aficionados will know that there’s a lot more to wine in Italy than chianti. Italy boasts some of the best reds, whites, and rosato in the world, and each region will offer up samples to anyone willing to taste.

From the Trebbiano to open the Giro to the Montepulciano and Barolo awaiting in Tuscany and Torino, and the Prosecco in the north, Italy and the Giro is a wine-lovers delight.

Unfortunately for the riders in the Giro, their touches with the more earthly delights of Italy are mostly limited to the winner’s jolt of spumante or some post-stage pasta.

Most teams bring along their own private chef, and the pack now loads up on high-carb menus and rarely eat what’s on offer at the hotels they’re staying in. That doesn’t mean they might sneak in the occasional slice of pizza or gelato, especially at the end of the Giro.

For every stage in the Giro d’Italia road book, organizers put the spotlight on the regional culinary, historical, and cultural highlights. Grand tours are a great way to show off everything a town, city, or region has to offer, and local governments line up before the Giro every year.

The Giro even has one stage each year dedicated to food, and another one to wine to promote some of Italy’s most famous exports.

Of course, the Italians proudly stick to some of their well-earned customs and traditions. There is a right time and place for everything. Rule No. 1 for any Giro fan is never, ever ask for a cappuccino after breakfast.