Strade Bianche

Where: Siena, Italy
When: Saturday, 4 March 2023
Rank: UCI WorldTour/Women's WorldTour
Distance: 184 kilometres (men's race) , 136 kilometres (women's race)

Strade Bianche is a one-day race held in Tuscany, Italy famous for its white gravel roads which have fast become the defining feature of the race. First held in 2007, the race quickly established itself within the men’s WorldTour and 16 editions have been held since, with Tadej Pogačar winning the most recent edition last year after a solo 45 kilometre attack.

Another key feature to the race is the incredibly steep climb, the Via Santa Caterina, to the finish in the Piazza del Campo within the city of Siena. After the success of the men’s edition of the race, a women’s event named Strade Bianche Rosa was first held in 2015 and also quickly established itself within the women’s WorldTour, serving as the opening event of the women’s WorldTour calendar. Lotte Kopecky of SD Worx won last year’s Strade Bianche Rosa.

There have been multiple calls for the men’s event to become the sixth men’s cycling monument due to its iconic parcours, difficulty and prestige. Both Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot have repeatedly referred to the race as cycling’s “sixth monument”. Fabian Cancellara has won the men’s race three times and leads the charts for the most Strade Bianche victories. 

In 2021 Mathieu van der Poel took a memorable win after multiple explosive attacks including one on the climb to the finish which left Julian Alaphilippe and Egan Bernal in a cloud of dust. This year’s edition will take place on Saturday 4 March with both the men’s and women’s races taking place on the same day.  A pre-race favourite, Wout van Aert, will sit out the men's edition this year due to illness. 

The race seems to favour anyone and everyone. If you're able to get over the steep climbs you should be good here with the likes of Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) both performing well in the race in the past. 

However, puncheurs seem to be the riders most able to go on the offensive here. Riders like Kasper Asgreen (Soudal- Quick Step) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) can perform on the sharper kicks that require a good acceleration. The uneven gravel also means that cobbled classics riders, cyclo-cross and former mountain bike riders can do well.

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies), and Fabian Cancellara are just some who have done well in the race.

The women's race is often far shorter than the men, much like any other women's race compared to the male equivalent for no apparent reason.

However, the racing is still epic with some amazing battles taking place. Mavi García's  (Alé-BTC-Ljubljana) amazing solo ride in 2020 almost made it all the way but was caught by the charging Dutch star of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) who was defending her title.

The Dutch, much like in most top-level women's racing, have dominated the race with the last four of the seven editions going to a Dutch woman. Only Van Vleuten has managed to win it twice with Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (SD Worx) and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) being the last two winners.

British rider Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) managed to back up her second place in 2015 with a win in 2016, being the only Brit to ever win the event.

Strade Bianche: Recent winners

2022: Tadej Pogačar (Slo), UAE Team Emirates
2021: Mathieu van der Poel (Ned), Alpecin-Fenix
2020: Wout van Aert (Bel), Team Jumbo-Visma
2019: Julian Alaphilippe (Fra), Deceuninck - Quick-Step
2018: Tiesj Benoot (Bel), Lotto-Soudal
2017: Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol), Team Sky
2016: Fabian Cancellara (Sui), Trek-Segafredo
2015: Zdeněk Štybar (Cze), Etixx - Quick-Step
2014: Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol), Omega Pharma - Quick-Step
2013: Moreno Moser (Ita), Cannondale Pro Cycling Team
2012: Fabian Cancellara (Sui), Radioshack-Nissan
2011: Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto
2010: Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz), Astana
2009: Thomas Löfkvist (Swe), Team Columbia-HTC
2008: Fabian Cancellara (Sui), CSC ProTeam
2007: Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus), CSC ProTeam.

Women's Strade Bianche: recent winners

2022: Lotte Kopecky (Bel), SD-Worx
2021: Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Ned), Team SD Worx
2020: Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned), Mitchelton-Scott
2019: Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned), Mitchelton-Scott
2018: Anna van der Breggen (Ned), Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team
2017: Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita), Wiggle-High5
2016: Elizabeth Deignan (GBr), Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team
2015: Megan Guarnier (USA), Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team

Key info: Start list | How to watch I Route

Previous editions: 2022 / 2022 W I 2021 / 2021 W | 2020 / 2020 W | 2019 / 2019 W | 2018 |2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011

External links: Official website | Official twitter feed
Strade Bianche donne official website