Strade Bianche (Men and Women)

All being well I will be in Siena for this years Strade Bianche, so forgive me if I’m hoping for a dry, warm and dusty weekend.  I did the wet and muddy in 2017 thanks.  I can vouch for the fact that it gets everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

Saturday, the 9th of March 2019 is the 13th edition of the Strade Bianche (men). The Italian race has quickly become a popular race with a seemingly historic background greater than its years (the first edition was 2007) placing it amongst The Classics. As I’m sure you know, Strade Bianche means ‘White Roads’ in Italian and refers to the sections of unpaved roads, I can vouch for them not being smooth and being very muddy, and slippery, in the wet.  The climb where Tiesj Benoot broke away last year is a real brute and the final climb into Siena, thought rated at 16%, seems considerably more – particularly the last 20 metres or so.   The race starts by the Fortezza Medicea and finishes on the Piazza del Campo back in Siena.

The women race and the Strade Bianche Sportif follow the same 136 Km route with the mens race being a bit longer at 184 Km.

The 2018 podiums were as below (Event results from 2018 can also be found on the Peloton page).

Men

1. Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
2. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
3. Wout Van Aert (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
4. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
5. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

Women

1. Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam
2. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing
3. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Wiggle High5
4. Chantal Blaak (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam
5. Lucy Kennedy (Aus) Mitchelton Scott Women

Entrant details can be found here for both Men and Women.

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