Strade Bianche race guide
Saturday 7 March 2015 16:50, UK
We survey the route as Team Sky return to northern Italy's famous gravel roads.
Preview of the ninth edition
Just nine years into its existence the Strade Bianche – formerly known as Monte Paschi Eroica – has rightfully earned its reputation as one of the top one-day races in the sport.
A spectacular parcours, featuring demanding sections of dusty white gravel roads, provides a stiff test of bike and rider before the tense run into Siena and the emotive Piazza del Campo finish.
With 200 kilometres on the agenda before then, the action kicks off in San Gimignano and continues on a gruelling and undulating parcours with barely a moment of respite.
The riders must take on 45.4km of gravel, split up into 10 sections, with the first arriving after just 32.6km. The race heads south-east through Murlo and Montalcino but the stiffest tests will arrive on the return north.
At 9.5km and 11.5km respectively, the two longest gravel sectors of the race could play a key role in splitting up the action across Lucignano d’Asso (number 6) and Monte Sante Marie (number 7).
The completion of both takes the peloton inside the final 40km, with a reduced group more than likely to tackle three final quick-fire sectors. The final stretch of dirt road measures little over a kilometre but is completed with just 12 left to go.
After these energy-sapping sections, the riders are faced with a last test in the form of a 16% climb into the Piazza del Campo. Narrow streets create a claustrophobic final kilometre and the first rider into the final corner is almost guaranteed to hold his advantage on the brief downhill sprint to the line.
Team Sky's highest-placed position in the race came in 2010 when the then-reigning champion Thomas Lofkvist sprinted to second place. Salvatore Puccio was our first rider home last season in 11th.
TV coverage: Live on British Eurosport 2 from 1315-1430 with highlights at 2230 (BE1) and 2345 (BE2).
