Strade Bianche: Classic fascinates professionals and amateur athletes alike

Strade Bianche - Zigzag and dust

The dust lungs are working hard. You can hear it. Short, compressed breaths. Oxygen inhalation with vigour. A small group of cyclists battling their way over one of the countless waves in the vastness of Tuscany.

The Italian Alessandro, who sits on his racing bike like a giant grizzly bear and amazes his much slimmer fellow riders with how well he keeps up over the steep sections, Csaba from Romania, who had tried to pull his fellow riders into the next group after half the distance. In vain. They are part of a scattered handful of cyclists zigzagging their way through the hills.

A handful of 6500 men and women, most of whom have travelled a long way to be able to roll up to the start line at the Plackerei. They came from Hungary, Poland, Ireland, Great Britain, Spain, France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, the USA and Brazil just to really hurt themselves or - as the organiser RCS advertises - to become part of the "legend": to follow in the footsteps of professionals such as Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock or Lotte Kopecky from the professional race the day before at the Granfondo Strade Bianche.

The race: Young & crisp

Participate and imitate is the motto here - in a race for professionals that is comparatively new and at the same time somehow seems to have fallen out of time: Strade Bianche, a loop through the picturesque hills of Tuscany, but for the most part not on well-paved main roads, but on many of the rough gravel roads that connect remote farmsteads with the traffic arteries here: Of the 184 kilometres of racing distance for the professional men, 63 kilometres lead over dirt roads (more than a third and therefore significantly more than the cobblestone passages in Paris-Roubaix); for the professional women and in the Granfondo, 31.6 of the almost 140 kilometres are on dirt roads.

The big five of professional cycling

The dusty affair celebrated its premiere under the name L'Eroica in 2007 - a late bloomer among the World Tour events. "It has managed to become one of the most important races on the calendar in just a few years. I wouldn't say it's one of the five monuments - but right behind it, it has a right to exist," says Ralph Denk, the boss of the professional racing team Bora-Hansgrohe.

The monuments, the big five of professional cycling - these are: Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy. These are all events that are well over 100 years old and involve distances of more than 250 kilometres. Strade Bianche is too young and too short - but nevertheless an extremely successful parvenu.

>> more on the course of the Strade Bianche 2023 race

The pros have grown to love it. "It's a short, intense race, with spectacular views, great fans right by the road, 3300 metres of climbing over 180 kilometres - it's a very, very tough race," says Zdenek Stybar at the start in the morning - beaming all over his face.

He is proud of his victory in 2015 - adding his name to an illustrious list of winners alongside three-time winner Fabian Cancellara, Julian Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar. The who's who of professional cycling gather here year after year.

Strade Bianche - Sifting through the gravel

"This is one of the monuments in women's cycling: the landscape is magnificent, the race is tough - and fair. The best always wins," says Danny Stam, the sporting director of the women's team SD Worx. In the comparatively young tradition of women's cycling, the significance is even greater - after all, the Strade Bianche has existed here since 2015 and therefore longer than the women's version of Paris-Roubaix.

Elizabeth Deignan, Anna van der Breggen and Annemiek van Vleuten have already been celebrated as the best of the day in the centre of Siena - last year Lotte Kopecky, it was her biggest victory to date as a professional.

The 27-year-old Belgian says before the start: "I love the off-road tracks, in every bend it feels like your tyres are slipping a bit. You have to trust your riding technique and not be afraid." It sounds like a fascination for a ghost train ride: the scarier, the more frightening, the more dangerous, the better.

Last year, Julian Alaphilippe spectacularly overturned in a descent - and yet he is happy to come back, saying in the morning at the start in the walls of the city fortress: "It's one of my favourite races." 28 millimetre wide tyres, 4.5 to 5 bar air pressure - that's the only tuning the team mechanics allow the pros to do on the "white roads".

Cycling journey through time

Even though Strade Bianche is a comparatively young thing in cycling, created as a professional offshoot of the popular retro event L'Eroica, it is a journey into the past of cycling. Back to the time when Italian cycling heroes Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali were leaving long plumes of dust in their triumphant rides through the landscapes of devastated post-war Italy, when epic solo rides filled the cycling history books, such as that of Coppi, who shook off all his companions halfway through the Milan-San Remo race in 1946 and rode 150 kilometres to victory alone. It was a time in cycling when the best riders were not dragged to the finishing straight or to the foot of the final climb by a bodyguard of team-mates.

Here in Tuscany, even in the 21st century, it's man against man early in the race. Gravel sector by gravel sector, helpers fall back until only the best remain - and successful solo rides to victory are launched when other races are still being strolled along. As in the previous year, when Tadej Pogacar made a break for it on the Piazza del Campo around 50 kilometres before the finish.

After all, for the 2023 edition of the race, the rumbling tracks in the eroded landscapes of Crete and Chianti are probably in better condition than ever before - they are always prepared for the professional race with graders and rollers and, thanks to the rain in the previous days, this time they are a comparatively solid surface. Mathieu van der Poel sounds disappointed at the start in the morning when he reveals this realisation from his reconnaissance rides to the journalists. No advantage for the reigning cross world champion.

"The biggest difficulties are the climbs on gravel, where the tyres slip. You have no grip, not even on the descents," Alberto Bettiol explains to TOUR ahead of his home race. "You can have a flat tyre or crash - you need a combination of luck and good legs here," says the team pro EF Education EasyPostwho grew up 30 kilometres from Siena. The key section? "Monte Sante Marie is crucial: it's the longest sector, the most difficult and the most dangerous," explains local hero Bettiol.

"This is where you see who won't win, where everyone is put where they belong - the best are at the front." There are quite a few in the professional circuit who believe that the 11.5 kilometre long, winding path to Monte Sante Marie in the barren erosion landscape of the Crete will soon be mentioned in the same breath as the Carrefour de l'Arbre or the Oude Kwaremont, and that the final steep section Le Tolfe will enjoy a reputation like the Paterberg - the key sections of Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.

In the wake of the professionals

And in the slipstream and in the plumes of dust, as it were, the professionals draw thousands of amateur cyclists to the course, first to watch on Saturday and then to try it out for themselves the next day in the Granfondo, where a colourful mix gathers for the test of endurance: Men and women, speedy racers and more leisurely gravel bikers with panniers. 6500 starters - sold out. What unites them all: the fun of suffering.

What separates them: where the pros launch their winning attacks, amateur riders have to get over the last, particularly steep gravel sections without cramping and then tackle the 16 per cent steep Via Santa Catarina sitting in the saddle - unlike Wout van Aert, who fell off his bike here in 2018 as a debutant in the Strade Bianche pro race less than 500 metres from the finish, shaken by cramps. A few metres further ahead, compatriot Tiesj Benoot ploughed to victory as a soloist wearing a mud mask.

Strade Bianche - addictive potential

"That was the toughest edition yet," recalls Jo van der Auwera. He took part in the Granfondo, the everyman's race. The ride through the rain didn't put him off for long - he keeps coming back. "Siena, the beautiful Tuscan countryside, the good food, a tough race" - in a few words, that's what makes Strade Bianche so addictive for the Fleming.

In March 2023, he will be there for the sixth time and this time he has brought along twelve mates from Flanders, all from the retro cycling team De Eddy's, including Bart De Wit, the mayor of Tremelo, who found the stories of his club mates so enticing that he put his official duties at home on hold for a long weekend.

For the prospect of experiencing a professional race up close - first on Saturday at the edge of the course, in the dense line of spectators, followed the next day by the self-awareness trip with the spectacular finish on the Piazza del Campo, one of the most beautiful city squares in the world, certainly one of the most impressive finish passages in cycling - right in front of the mighty Palazzo Pubblico with its mighty tower. Only the Champs-Elysees or the velodrome in Roubaix, with its much rougher charm, can compete with this backdrop.

16 per cent steep final ascent

Once again, the fans on the terraces of the cafés and restaurants witnessed images that fuelled the young legend of the race. Even the up to 16 per cent steep final climb in the Via Santa Caterina did not decide the women's race: last year's winner Kopecky and her Dutch team colleague Demi Vollering rode shoulder to shoulder into the centre of Siena.

There is a photo finish between the two pros in the SD Worx jersey - Vollering is just over a tyre width ahead. "If you win Strade Bianche, you can win any race," says its sporting director Danny Stam. The finish in the small depression that forms Il Campo in the centre of the historic old town is more than just a snapshot.

The best will win

Bettiol, who saw Fabian Cancellara win here as a young boy with his father, also wants to create something lasting - as he did when he won the Tour of Flanders in 2019. He throws down the gauntlet 53 kilometres before the finish, launching the first important attack in the longest gravel passage to Monte Sante Marie. And ultimately only provides the groundwork for someone even stronger, even bolder: Tom Pidcock.

On an intermediate descent, the British Olympic mountain bike champion and ex-cross world champion shows off his downhill skills, shoots past the accompanying bike with commentator Philippe Gilbert by a hand's width on the unpredictable surface, catches up with the rest of a breakaway group - and can only be seen by the chasers from a distance.

"My experience on the mountain bike and in cyclocross was an advantage - you could see that others felt uncomfortable on the gravel," he says later at the press conference in the Palazzo on the edge of the picturesque finish town - and he spins in his chair as if reliving his successful rollercoaster ride through Tuscany. Explosiveness, bite, endurance, riding technique - the Strade Bianche race is the ultimate challenge for all-rounders in professional cycling.

"The best man won," admits third-placed Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma), despite his obvious annoyance at the poorly organised chase with his team-mate Attila Valter. Random winners are ruled out at Strade Bianche.

Strade Bianche - Gravel instead of shopping

While the pros quickly jump under the showers in the team buses and camper vans, pack their things and rush on to the next race, Margot Lens sits at the edge of the fountain in the city fortress of Siena around 24 hours later late in the afternoon and reports on her smartphone about her ride over the gravel roads.

"We're fans of the Strade Bianche," says the Dutchwoman, who works as a lawyer in Milan and lured her student friend Eline to Tuscany for a short trip to try out the stitches on loose ground on gravel bikes.

Battling against gravel and gradients instead of shopping and sightseeing in Milan. They are thrilled by the fantastic scenery in the historic centre of Siena and the breathtaking views of the Tuscan countryside, but are disappointed by the low proportion of women in the Everyman race and by their idol Mathieu van der Poel: "He wasn't fit," the two cycling fans say.

Many want to come back

But the most important thing: "No horses on the track," says Lens, laughing about her own long, exhausting ride. Because the day before, a wild horse almost prevented the success of her compatriot Demi Vollering in the professional race.

The dust settles after the exciting weekend. Many want to come back. Pro Bettiol to finally win his home race after crashing heavily on an asphalt descent this time, leaving him with a broken helmet and a buzzing head. De Eddy's in Belgium has gained new fans for the Strade Bianche - the travelling group could become even bigger in the future.

Next time, Margot and Eline want to take more time for their trip to Tuscany, enjoy the landscape in peace and quiet and not just concentrate on the narrow lanes in the gravel while riding the waves. The attraction of the Strade Bianche has worked again - despite its dusty image.

Strade Bianche

The race has evolved from the tradition of the retro event L'Eroica, which has been organised since 1997. "strade bianche" (gravel roads) in Tuscany.

• First edition: 2007 (men), 2015 (women), 2016 (Granfondo)
• Date of the eventFirst Saturday in March
• OrganiserRCS (as well as Giro d'Italia and Milan-San Remo)
• Record winner: Fabian Cancellara (3 x) German winners: none

Routes

• Professionals men184 kilometres with 63 kilometres of gravel in eleven sectors
• Professionals women136 kilometres with 31.6 kilometres of gravel in eight sectors
• Granfondo - long distance139 kilometres with 31.6 kilometres of gravel in eight sectors (same route as the women's pros)
• Mediofondo87 kilometres with 21.6 kilometres of gravel in six sectors

Results 2023 - Professionals Men

1st Thomas Pidcock (GBR, Ineos), 4:31:41 hrs; 2nd Valentin Madouas (FRA, Groupama), +0:20 min; 3rd Tiesj Benoot (BEL, Jumbo), +0;22; 4th Rui Costa (POR, Intermarche), +0:23; 5th Attila Valter (HUN, Jumbo), gl. time;

Professionals women

1. Demi Vollering (NED, SD Worx), 3:50:35 hrs; 2. Lotte Kopecky (BEL), gl. time; 3. time; 3. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (DEN, FDJ), +2:01; 4. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED, Movistar), gl. time; 5th Puck Pieterse (NED, Fenix-Deceuninck); ... 7th Liane Lippert (GER, Movistar), +2:27

Info

Professional race: www.strade-bianche.it

Granfondo/Everyone: https://gfstradebianche.it