The women’s peloton moves to Italy this weekend with the fans favourite classic Strade Bianche Credit Agricole. The white steratti roads of Tuscany await the riders as they fight it out for the win. This time defending champion Lotte Kopecky does not take to the start but the list of possible winners is large!
The race gets underway at 9:40 AM local time after a team presentation the afternoon before. The start list includes past winners Lizzie Deignan (2016), Elisa Longo Borghini (2017), Anna van der Breggen (2018), and Demi Vollering (2023).
The list of riders who have previously reached the podium includes 2024 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift winner Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Mavi García, and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig. Outsiders for the win include Thalita de Jong of Human Powered Health. It shouldn’t be forgotten that she is a former world Cyclo cross champion and been on fantastic form already this season.
Among the most eagerly awaited riders at the start are Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, returning to the Strade Bianche Women Elite for the first time since 2018, and Kristen Faulkner, the reigning Olympic road race champion from Paris 2024.
The Route
The course is twisty and undulating, with no extended climbs but with quite a few punchy bits, especially on the unpaved sections. There are more than 50 km of gravel roads across thirteen sectors (all shared with the Men’s course).
The race starts near the Stadium/Fortezza Medicea in Siena. The first undulating kilometers on tarmac lead to the 4.4 km-long gravel sector 1, which is perfectly straight and slightly downhill.
Sector 2 (4.8 km) is just a few kilometres away; this will be the first tricky bit of the race, with a short descent followed by a long climb featuring sections over 10%. Upon reaching Radi, the route takes in the third gravel sector (4.4 km), shortly followed by sector 4 – named “La Piana” – which leads to Ponte d’Arbia, where, after a few hundred meters on the “Cassia,” riders will tackle the new Serravalle sector (9.3 km). This sector ends just before the start of the next one, San Martino in Grania (9.5 km), set amidst the Crete Senesi. It’s a long sector marked by a sequence of gentle undulations in its first part, and ending with a twisting climb that leads back to paved road. The sixth dirt road sector, Monteaperti, is only 800 m in length, but it greets the riders with double-digit gradients.
The demanding final kilometers approach the city of Siena for the famous finish along wide and straight roads, connected by sweeping curves, initially downhill, and further on slightly uphill. With 2 km to go to the finish, the route takes the Via Esterna di Fontebranda; here the gradient touches 9%. The stone pavement begins 900 m before the finish line, just past the Fontebranda Gate. The gradient is over 10% until 500 m from the finish, reaching its steepest gradient of 16% along Via Santa Caterina. A sharp right-hand turn leads to Via delle Terme, and then to Via Banchi di Sotto. Starting 300 m to the finish onwards, the road is a slight, continuous ascent. With 150 m to go, a right turn leads into Via Rinaldini. The route enters the Piazza del Campo just 70 m from the finish line. The final 30 m descend at a gradient of 7% to the finish line, which is on level road. This finish is like no other in professional cycling. The atmosphere in Piazza del Campo is a special one for riders and fans alike.
