Strade Bianche

   The heart of the spring classic races on the professional cycling calendar is a few weeks away, but a “new classic” is becoming a favorite of mine. The Strade Bianche is not only a great preview of the season ahead, but it features a fantastic route through beautiful country with some quirky features. The white roads race is held in the Tuscany region of Italy, on the outskirts of the majestic city of Siena. The race was first organized in October of 2007, but has found a space in early March as part of the European classics season. The race starts in Gaiole in Chianti (home of the wine, of course) and finishes in the famous Piazza del Campo in Siena (photo below), where the Palio horse races are held twice a year.

 

   The route consists of 190 kilometers through the region, including 70 kilometers of white gravel roads called sterrati. Sections of the route were originally used in a recreational race, or gran fondo – a name people in the states are getting used to hearing with such events popping up all over the place. In fact a fairly recent fondo was in the news because a participant was found to be doping, which is just so ridiculous, I’m not even going to comment any further!

   Watching the race on television is a unique event because at this period of late winter there is very little foliage on the trees and the riders are fairly unobscured during the helicopter shots that pan to catch the striking Tuscan landscape. You can really get a sense of the undulating roads (photo below) and the challenge facing the cyclists. The route builds nicely to a fantastic finish up the steep narrow roads that weave through the Romanesque-Gothic buildings into the Piazza del Campo.

 

   In the past, strategy in this race has been interesting, particularly because of the event’s presence in the cycling calendar, when fitness levels were all over the place within the pro peloton. However, as the prestige of Stade Bianche has grown, riders have used it as a springboard into the classics season, with more teams showing up near top condition with their top single-day racers.

   Saturday’s race featured an early break with a large group of hard chasing riders that included 2012 winner Fabian Cancellara and strong contenders such Rinaldo Nocentini, Greg Van Avermaet and Alejandro Valverde. With Moreno Moser and pre-race favorite Peter Sagan, the Cannondale team had the advantage of two strong riders present, and while the others were busy marking each other, Moser jumped clear late to reach the breakaway. Sagan could just relax, counter any moves, and let the others do the work to catch his teammate, knowing that he would then be fresh for the finish.

   In fact, the chasing group nearly caught Moser, but he had enough left to hold them off, jumping clear of his breakaway companions up the steep finish into the Piazza del Campo (photo below). As reward for being a faithful teammate, Sagan crossed the line in second place, blowing by the remaining riders as they weaved in exhaustion all over the final climb, and Nocentini claimed the third podium spot.