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For the women's event, see Strade Bianche Donne.
Strade Bianche
Race details
DateEarly March
RegionTuscany, Italy
Local name(s)Strade Bianche - Eroica Pro Template:It icon
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI World Tour
TypeSingle-day
Race directorMauro Vegni
Web sitewww.strade-bianche.it Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition2007 (2007)
Editions12 (as of 2018)
First winner Alexandr Kolobnev (RUS)
Most wins Fabian Cancellara (SUI) (3 wins)
Most recent Tiesj Benoot (BEL)

The Strade Bianche, officially called Strade Bianche - Eroica Pro, is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. It has been held annually since 2007, on the first or second Saturday of March. The name Strade Bianche (Italian for White Roads) stems from the historic white gravel roads that are a defining feature of the race. More than 50 km of the total distance are raced on dirt roads.[1]

Despite its relatively short history, the Strade Bianche has quickly gained prestige.[2] As from 2017, the event will be included in the UCI World Tour, cycling's highest level of professional road races.[3][4] It is organized by RCS Sport - La Gazzetta dello Sport, and is held the weekend before Tirreno–Adriatico as an early spring precursor to the cobbled classics in April. Swiss Fabian Cancellara holds the record with three wins.[5]

Since 2015, a women's event, the Strade Bianche Donne, is held on the same day as the men's race. The event is part of the UCI Women's World Tour and is raced at approximately half the distance of the men's race, containing 17 km of gravel roads spread over five sectors.[6]

History

Eroica 2008 Finish
Fabian Cancellara won the 2008 Eroica in a two-man sprint with Alessandro Ballan.

Monte Paschi Eroica

The Eroica Strade Bianche ("Heroic race of the white roads") was created in 1997 as a granfondo, a recreational bike race for vintage bikes only, on the white gravel roads around Siena,[7] an event that is still held annually the day after the professional race.[1]

In 2007, a professional race was spun off the event, inaugurally called Monte Paschi Eroica, won by Russian Alexandr Kolobnev. The race was held on 9 October; it started in Gaiole in Chianti and finished in Siena. Organizer RCS asked local cycling icons Fiorenzo Magni and Paolo Bettini to promote the maiden event.[8] Monte dei Paschi, the world's oldest still-existing bank with its headquarters in Siena, served as the race's title sponsor for the first four years.

In 2008 it moved to early March on the calendar, closer to the heart of the spring classics season.[9] Swiss Fabian Cancellara won the second edition. In 2009, organizers changed the name of the race to Strade Bianche - Eroica Toscana and in 2010 to Strade Bianche. The race was also lengthened 9 km (5.6 mi) and one more gravel sector was added, taking the total unsealed sections to 57 kilometres.[10]

Strade Bianche - Eroica Pro

In 2014, the start of the race moved to the hill town of San Gimignano.[11] In 2015, its name officially changed to Strade Bianche - Eroica Pro after the creation of a women's version, and UCI upgraded the event to a 1.HC race of the UCI Europe Tour, the highest rating for a non-World Tour single-day cycling event. Since 2016, Siena hosts both the start and finish of the Strade Bianche.[1] Due to the nature of the race and its place on the calendar, the field is usually made up of riders taking part in Tirreno–Adriatico and Milan–San Remo.

Although a young event, the race has gained the status of an instant classic, garnering lots of media attention and soon becoming a desirable entry in classics riders’ palmares.[2] Among the winners of the first ten editions feature Fabian Cancellara, Philippe Gilbert and Michał Kwiatkowski on a very international roll of honour. In 2013 Moreno Moser became only the first Italian winner of the Strade Bianche. Classics specialist Cancellara is the only three-time winner of the race, earning a sector named after him.[5]

Route

Piazza del Campo in Siena, scene of the finish of the Strade Bianche.

Course

The race starts and finishes in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Siena.[1] The route consists of 176 kilometres over hilly terrain crossing the southern Tuscan province of Siena, including nine sectors of gravel roads, totaling 52.8 km (32.8 mi) of dirt road.[12][13] The finish is on Siena's illustrious Piazza del Campo, after a steep and narrow climb on the roughly-paved Via Santa Caterina leading into the center of the medieval city.[14]

Gravel roads

The white gravel roads, characteristic of the Tuscan countryside, provide the unique character of the race. They are usually country lanes and farm tracks, called strade bianche or sterrati in Italian, twisting through the hills and vineyards of the Chianti region.[15] The longest and most arduous sectors are the ones in Lucignano d’Asso (9.5 km) and Asciano (11 km).[16] Some of the dirt roads are flat, other sections include steep climbs and winding descents, testing riders' climbing abilities and bike handling skills. Positioning and route knowledge often prove vital.

One of the strade bianche in the province of Siena, pictured during the "Eroica" granfondo.

Race organizers were inspired by the two most famous northern classics, uniting the peculiarities of the Tour of Flanders with its bergs (short stretches of steep hills), and Paris–Roubaix with its grueling cobblestone sections.[17] It has been called Italy's answer to Flanders' most iconic one-day races, as reflected by the promotional slogan of the 2015 edition: La Classica del Nord più a sud d'Europa (Europe's most southern Northern Classic).[17]

Angelo Zomegnan, RCS events director, explained before the first edition in 2007: "Cycling needed something new and the riders need a motivation [...] This race is unique and special."[18] Likewise, Italian sprinter Daniele Bennati was equally enthusiastic about the race, stating: "It was a sensation of turning back in time. I did not think paths like these, where you only see a tractor every now and then, still existed [...] It will be an important race that could become an important classic. I can already imagine the atmosphere of the arrival in the Piazza del Palio."[18]

Riders who take three Strade Bianche titles have a sector of gravel road named after them.[19] Fabian Cancellara is the first rider with a stretch named in his honour: sector 8, an 11.5 km section at Monte Sante Marie.[20][21][5][22][23]

Winners

Fabian Cancellara (pictured at the 2012 edition) won the race in 2008, 2012 and 2016.
Year Country Rider Team
2007  Russia Alexandr Kolobnev You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2008   Switzerland Fabian Cancellara You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2009  Sweden Thomas Löfkvist You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2010  Kazakhstan Maxim Iglinsky You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2011  Belgium Philippe Gilbert You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2012   Switzerland Fabian Cancellara You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2013  Italy Moreno Moser You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2014  Poland Michał Kwiatkowski You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2015  Czech Republic Zdeněk Štybar You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2016   Switzerland Fabian Cancellara You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2017  Poland Michał Kwiatkowski You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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2018  Belgium Tiesj Benoot You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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Multiple winners

Wins Rider Editions
3  Fabian Cancellara (SUI) 2008, 2012, 2016
2  Michał Kwiatkowski (POL) 2014, 2017

Wins per country

Wins Country
3  Switzerland
2  Belgium
 Poland
1  Czech Republic
 Italy
 Kazakhstan
 Russia
 Sweden

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Siena start for Strade Bianche in 2016". Cycling News. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Almost as Good as Homemade". The Service Course. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  3. ^ "UCI expands WorldTour to 37 events". Cycling News. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  4. ^ "The UCI reveals expanded UCI WorldTour calendar for 2017". UCI. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Wynn, Nigel. "Fabian Cancellara wins Strade Bianche for a third time". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  6. ^ Farrand, Stephen (16 January 2015). "Women's Strade Bianche race route revealed". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  7. ^ 2nd Edition Monte Paschi Eroica at the Daily Peloton - Pro Cycling News Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
  8. ^ "Bettini "padrino" della Monte Paschi Eroica". Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 2 October 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  9. ^ Second Edition of Monte Paschi Eroica - Eroica's status grows with new springtime date Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
  10. ^ 3rd Montepaschi Strade Bianche - Eroica Toscana - 1.1 Retrieved on 2010-03-07.
  11. ^ Farrand, Stephen. "Strade Bianche Preview: Sagan, Cancellara, Wiggins and Valverde to clash on the dirt roads of Tuscany". CyclingNews. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  12. ^ Strade Bianche Website Retrieved on 2014-06-30
  13. ^ Puddicombe, Stephen. "Strade Bianche 2015 preview". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  14. ^ Brown, Gregor. "Preview: Strade Bianche promises to be a strongman's race". Velo News. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  15. ^ Hunter, David. "Strade Bianche 2015 Preview". Ciclismo Internacional. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  16. ^ Farrand, Stephen. "Strade Bianche Preview: Cancellara faces Sagan, Nibali, Stybar and Valverde". CyclingNews. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  17. ^ a b Aiesi, Samuele. "Strade Bianche: storia, curiosità, statistiche e pronostici". Fantagazzetta. Redazione Scommesse Fantagazzetta. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  18. ^ a b Brown, Gregor. "First Monte Paschi Eroica presented". Cycling News. Retrieved 30 November 2015. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  19. ^ "Strade Bianche Eroica Pro: storia, curiosità, statistiche e pronostici". fantagazzetta.com (in Italian). Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  20. ^ "More dirt road sectors for Strade Bianche in 2017 | Cyclingnews.com". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  21. ^ "Fabian Cancellara's triple Strade Bianche wins honoured with special milestone - Cycling Weekly". Cycling Weekly. 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  22. ^ Windsor, Richard. "Fabian Cancellara to have stretch of Strade Bianche named after him if he wins this weekend". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  23. ^ "Cancellara etches his name in Strade Bianche history". sbs.com.au. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
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