Thirteenth stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023: from Borgofranco d'Ivrea to Crans Montana
19 May 2023
2 minutes
We enter more and more the live of the race approaching the final phase of the second week of the Giro d'Italia 2023. The thirteenth stage will be one of the toughest, with its 199 kilometers and over 5100 meters of elevation gain.
The start will be flat for a few kilometers, then you will pass Aosta until you meet the San Bernardo tunnel, alternative to the San Bernardo Pass, chosen by the organization of the Tour to make the athletes proceed safely, given the copious snowfalls of recent days.
The race will cross Borgofranco d'Ivrea, a small village in Piedmont that has distant origins; crossed by the Via delle Gallie, a Roman road that connected the Po Valley with Gaul, then became an outpost in 1200 by the will of the Marquis of Monferrato and the Bishop of Ivrea, a crossroads for pilgrims who traveled the Via Francigena to reach Rome, has undergone several transformations over the centuries, until becoming the beautiful village that it is today.
The territory is crossed by the Dora Baltea, a tributary river of the Po, and on the banks it is possible to see how rural life is still rooted in the inhabitants of this place, in fact, in Borgofranco there are still the typical houses of the past, on two or three floors, with on the ground floor, large arches that served as stables and deposits for hay.
Not to mention the Balmetti, the characteristic stone “cellars” obtained from the Massif of Mambarone, which thanks to a natural phenomenon that causes the escape of air currents from the interior of the mountain, makes these places perfect for the conservation of wines and cheeses, a practice that dates back to the beginning of the twelfth century.
Crossing the village and moving away from the town, it is possible to take walks immersed in unspoilt nature, you can walk the ancient Via Francigena, on foot or by bicycle, or hike in the woods where once there were farmhouses, mills and farmhouses, and several excursions organized in groups or alone, with a tasting on arrival.
The welcome of the people of Burgundy is also marked by the quantity of products they offer to those who visit this beautiful place, the exceptional cheeses: the taking of the balmetto and the maccagno of the balmetto, the elderberry pancakes, the thistle cake, and the excellent canestrelli, dry cocoa biscuits or the intense aroma of lemon.
The race continues through many pitfalls, the slope for the rest of the track varies from 5% to 13%, and then 30 kilometers of descent until arriving in Switzerland for the final stage.
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