Saturday brings one of the hardest, and at the same time, most beautiful one-day races of the season.
Strade Bianche comes with a couple changes this year for its 20th edition: the distance has been reduced by almost 15 kilometers and two gravel sectors have been left out, meaning the peloton will now tackle a total of 14 white roads segments.
After the riders leave behind the Fortezza Medicea, they’ll cover just a few kilometers before taking on the first difficulty of the day, but the race is expected to explode much later, when the bunch will arrive on the brutal slopes of the Monte Sante Marie sector, the longest of the whole day. Le Tolfe, set to be tackled twice, and Colle Pinzuto, are other key points of the race and potential launchpads for a successful attack, as has happened several times at the past editions.
The final kilometer of Strade Bianche remains the same, which means those vying for a good result will have to overcome also the 16% gradients of Via Santa Caterina before entering Piazza del Campo, one of cycling’s most spectacular finish venues.
Soudal Quick-Step, the only team to have won the prestigious Italian one-day race with three different riders, will be at the start with a strong seven-man squad consisting of Gianmarco Garofoli, Junior Lecerf, Pepijn Reinderink, Martin Svrcek, Mauri Vansevenant, Louis Vervaeke, and Giro di Sardegna winner Filippo Zana, who two years ago finished top ten in Siena.
“The race is a bit shorter this year and doesn’t have as many gravel kilometers as last season, but this doesn’t mean it won’t be hard and demanding. At the same time, it’s one of the best races in the world, a place where he enjoyed many great results in the past, so it goes without saying that we would like to be again in the thick of the action and fight for a good result with the strong squad that that we have there”, said sports director Davide Bramati.
Photo credit: ©Cédric Depraetere
©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
