Strade Bianche 2024: The most important facts in brief
- Date: Saturday, 2 March, the women start at 9:35 am (finish ~ 1:30 pm), the men start at 11:10 am (finish ~ 3:30 pm)
- DistanceMen 215 kilometres, women 137 kilometres
- Start: Siena, Target: Siena
- Premiere: Men 2007, women 2015
- UCI category: World Tour, Women's World Tour
- Start list & favourites men
- Start list & favourites women
- Race report of the men
- Women's race report
- The best photos from Strade Bianche 2024
History of the Strade Bianche
The Strade Bianche does not have a long tradition. The race was launched in 2007 under the name Monte Paschi Eroica - it goes back to the popular sporting event L'Eroica, which was first held in 1997 and aimed to revive the old spirit of cycling. It was basically modelled on the great heroes of Italian cycling after the Second World War, when Fausto Coppi and Ginoi Bartali thrilled the Tifosi with steel frames on gravel roads and endlessly long distances.
A competition for women was added in 2015. This became part of the Women's World Tour (WWT) just one year later. The men's race was added to the World Tour (UWT) in 2017. However, the race has been growing in popularity since it was first organised, both among professionals and spectators. Even before the gravel hype really took off, the dusty gravel tracks, the eponymous white roads, captivated everyone involved.
Strade Bianche 2024: The route
Initially held in autumn, "Europe's southernmost northern classic", as the race is also called, at least in its own presentation, has been part of the UCI calendar in early spring and before the big long-distance races for years Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico in the programme. 2024 will be held on 3 March. The women will take to the track first and are expected at the finish in Piazza del Campo in Siena at around 13:30 - the men around two hours later.
The women's route
While the start - which also takes place in Siena - and finish remain unchanged, the route is subject to some changes this year. While the distance for the women remains almost unchanged, a whopping 30 kilometres have been added for the men. At 215 kilometres, the Strade Bianche will break the 200-kilometre mark for the first time in its history. The women will cover 137 kilometres.
The men's route
Newly introduced additional loop for women and men
The main reason for the changes is an additional loop installed in the last part of the race - 30 kilometres long. It includes two additional gravel sectors. In addition, the two final gravel sections from previous years, Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe, will each be ridden twice. Organiser RCS wants to offer spectators along the route more of the race.
With the extra lap, which is the only change to the course, the men now have a total of 71.5 kilometres on gravel roads spread over 15 sectors, four more than in previous years. The women now have 40.4 kilometres in twelve sectors.
Last year, there were around 30 - with a similar route length, which was only extended by around 1000 metres. This is due to the fact that a section east of Siena without gravel in the last third of the race was cancelled in favour of the extra loop.
Weather plays a role
However, this does not change the character of the race. The Strade Bianche remains a hilly classic for both sexes, which is usually held in dry Tuscan weather. Most of the editions have managed with sunshine, but in 2018 it was completely rainy. This also has an effect on the surface. The white roads then turn grey, sometimes muddy and slippery.
The wind has also caused havoc. In 2022, for example, Julian Alaphilippe was caught in a gust that spectacularly knocked him off his bike.
Strade Bianche 2024: The gravel sectors at a glance
The stars symbolise the level of difficulty of the respective sector.
Men
- Vidritta - 2.1 km *
- Bagnaia - 5.8 km ***
- Radi - 4.4 km **
- La Piana - 6.4 km **
- Lucignano d'Asso - 11.9 km ****
- Pieve a Salti - 8.0 km ****
- San Martino in Grania - 9.5 km *****
- Monte Sante Marie - 11.5 km *****
- Monteaperti - 0.6 km **
- Colle Pinzuto - 2.4 km ****
- Le Tolfe - 1.1 km ****
- Strada del Castagno - 1.3 km ***
- Montechiaro - 3.3 km **
- Colle Pinzuto - 2.4 km ****
- Le Tolfe - 1.1 km ****
Women
- Vidritta - 2.1 km *
- Bagnaia - 5.8 km ***
- Radi - 4.4 km **
- La Piana - 6.4 km **
- San Martino in Grania - 9.5 km *****
- Monteaperti - 0.6 km **
- Colle Pinzuto - 2.4 km ****
- Le Tolfe - 1.1 km ****
- Strada del Castagno - 1.3 km ***
- Montechiaro - 3.3 km **
- Colle Pinzuto - 2.4 km ****
- Le Tolfe - 1.1 km ****
Strade Bianche 2024: TV broadcast & live stream
Strade Bianche 2024 will be shown on television at Eurosport 2 will be shown. The women's race will be shown on Saturday from 12:00 noon, followed by the men's programme from 2:00 pm. The two races will also be shown at discovery+ (via paid subscription) in the live stream.
The transmission times
- Strade Bianche Women: 12:00 - 14:00 Eurosport 2
- Strade Bianche Men 14:00 - 17:15 Eurosport 2
Strade Bianche 2024 - start list: These stars are taking part
With Tom Pidcock and Tadej Pogacar the winners of the last two editions have announced their participation. They are also among the favourites for 2024. However, Mathieu van der Poel will be missing, which has a different racing programme in 2024 than in the previous yearand Wout van Aert, who recently showed his skills at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.
In the women's competition, there could be another intra-team duel at SD Worx - Protime between Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky come. Last year, Vollering narrowly came out on top. Both are on the start list.
Strade Bianche 2024: The starting list for the men
Ineos Grenadiers
- 1 Thomas Pidcock
- 2 Thyme Arensman
- 3 Kim Heiduk
- 4 Michal Kwiatkowski
- 5 Salvatore Puccio
- 6 Magnus Sheffield
- 7 Geraint Thomas
Alpecin-Deceuninck
- 11 Quinten Hermans
- 12 Nicola Conci
- 13 Michael Gogl
- 14 Juri Hollmann
- 15 Oscar Riesebeek
- 16 Fabio van den Bossche
- 17 Gianni Vermeersch
Arkea-B&B Hotels
- 21 Vincenzo Albanese
- 22 Anthony Delaplace
- 23 Simon Guglielmi
- 24 Cristian Rodriguez
- 25 Kevin Ledanois
- 26 Kevin Vauquelin
- 27 Clement Venturini
Astana Qazaqstan Team
- 31 Simone Velasco
- 32 Gleb Brussenkiy
- 33 Yevgeniy Fedorov
- 34 Gianmarco Garofoli
- 35 Michele Gazzoli
- 36 Harold Martin Lopez
- 37 Ide Schelling
Bora-Hansgrohe
- 41 Sergio Higuita
- 42 Giovanni Aleotti
- 43 Cesare Benedetti
- 44 Patrick Gamper
- 45 Lennard Kämna
- 46 Jonas Koch
- 47 Daniel Felipe Martinez
Cofidis
- 51 Guillaume Martin
- 52 Thomas Champion
- 53 Eddy Fine
- 54 Simon Geschke
- 55 Jonathan Lastra
- 56 Axel Mariault
- 57 Axel Zingle
Team Corratec - Vini Fantini
- 61 Kristian Sbaragli
- 62 Davide Baldaccini
- 63 Niccolo Bonifazio
- 64 Valerio Conti
- 65 Valentin Darbellay
- 66 Lorenzo Quartucci
- 67 Mark Stewart
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
- 71 Benoit Cosnefroy
- 72 Jaakko Hänninen
- 73 Jordan Labrosse
- 74 Paul Lapeira
- 75 Nans Peters
- 76 Bastien Tronchon
- 77 Andrea Vendrame
EF Education EasyPost
- 81 Alberto Bettiol
- 82 Richard Carapaz
- 83 Stefan de Bod
- 84 Ben Healy
- 85 Mikkel Frölich Honore
- 86 Neilson Powless
- 87 James Shaw
Groupama-FDJ
- 91 Valentin Madouas
- 92 Lewis Askey
- 93 Lorenzo Germani
- 94 Romain Gregoire
- 95 Olivier Le Gac
- 96 Fabian Lienhard
- 97 Lenny Martinez
Intermarche-Wanty
- 101 Lorenzo Rota
- 102 Francesco Busatto
- 103 Kevin Colleoni
- 104 Tom Paquot
- 105 Simone Petilli
- 106 Dion Smith
- 107 Pure Taaramäe
Israel-Premier Tech
- 111 Dylan Teuns
- 112 Simon Clarke
- 113 Marco Frigo
- 114 Krists Neilands
- 115 Nadav Raisberg
- 116 Riley Sheehan
- 117 Stephen Williams
Lidl Trek
- 121 Andrea Bagioli
- 122 Fabio Felline
- 123 Jacopo Mosca
- 124 Quinn Simmons
- 125 Toms Skujins
- 126 Edward Theuns
- 127 Mathias Vacek
Lotto-Dstny
- 131 Lennert van Eetvelt
- 132 Johannes Adamietz
- 133 Jenno Berckmoes
- 134 Logan Currie
- 135 Arjen Livyns
- 136 Sylvain Moniquet
- 137 Maxim van Gils
Movistar
- 141 Davide Formolo
- 142 Carlos Canal
- 143 Ivan Garcia Cortina
- 144 Nelson Oliveira
- 145 Vinicius Rangel
- 146 Sergio Samitier
- 147 Gonzalo Serrano
Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
- 151 Gianluca Brambilla
- 152 Walter Calzoni
- 153 Filippo Conca
- 154 David de la Cruz
- 155 Mark Donovan
- 156 Alessandro Fancellu
- 157 James Wheelan
Soudal - Quick Step
- 161 Julian Alaphilippe
- 162 Kasper Asgreen
- 163 Josef Cerny
- 164 Antoine Huby
- 165 Paul Magnier
- 166 Pieter Serry
- 167 Mauri Vansevenant
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
- 171 Romain Bardet
- 172 Warren Barguil
- 173 Bram Welten
- 174 Romain Combaud
- 175 Chris Hamilton
- 176 Frank van den Broek
- 177 Kevin Vermaerke
Team Jayco-AlUla
- 181 Lawson Craddock
- 182 Alessandro De Marchi
- 183 Davide De Pretto
- 184 Felix Engelhardt
- 185 Christopher Juul-Jensen
- 186 Rudy Porter
- 187 Filippo Zana
Polti-Kometa
- 191 Davide De Cassan
- 192 Erik Fetter
- 193 German Dario Gomez
- 194 Francisco Munoz
- 195 Andrea Pietrobon
- 196 Alex Martin
- 197 Diego Pablo Sevilla
Visma | Lease a Bike
- 201 Christophe Laporte
- 202 Sepp Kuss
- 203 Bart Lemmen
- 204 Ben Tulett
- 205 Attila Valter
- 206 Tosh van der Sande
- 207 Julien Vermote
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
- 211 Sebastien Reichenbach
- 212 Nils Brun
- 213 Lucas Eriksson
- 214 Alexander Kamp
- 215 Roland Thalmann
- 216 Hannes Wilksch
- 217 Luc Wirtgen
UAE Team Emirates
- 221 Tadej Pogacar
- 222 Filippo Baroncini
- 223 Jan Christen
- 224 Isaac Del Toro
- 225 Marc Hirschi
- 226 Domen Novak
- 227 Tim Wellens
Uno-X Mobility
- 231 Magnus Cort Nielsen
- 232 Jonas Abrahamsen
- 233 Martin Urianstad Bugge
- 234 Odd Christian Eiking
- 235 Markus Hoelgaard
- 236 Jonas Iversby Hvideberg
- 237 Anders Halland Johannessen
Bahrain-Victorious
- 241 Matej Mohoric
- 242 Nicolo Buratti
- 243 Matevz Govekar
- 244 Fran Miholjevic
- 245 Andrea Pasqualon
- 246 Torstein Traeen
- 247 Edoardo Zambanini
Strade Bianche for everyone: The Everyman Race
In addition to the L'Eroica, which is still held today but only allows bikes of a certain minimum age, there is also a direct Gran Fondo of the Strade Bianche, in which equipment is irrelevant. 7000 participants have already registered and are largely travelling on the routes of the pros. The long variant with almost 140 kilometres is based on the old women's course, while a not quite 90-kilometre route is shorter, but still has almost 22 kilometres of gravel on offer.
