STRADE BIANCHE 2022 PREVIEW - ROUTE, PREDICTIONS AND CONTENDERS
With the brutal white gravel hills of Tuscany and the spectacular finish in the Piazza del Campo in Siena, Strade Bianche is one of the most spectacular races on the calendar
WORDS: TIM BONVILLE-GINN
Strade Bianche is the first Italian race on the WorldTour calendar with the infamous route taking in some of Tuscany’s most brutal, but also beautiful, eponymous white gravel climbs before a stunning finish in the old town of Siena.
Despite the race only beginning in 2007, Strade Bianche has quickly become a big fan favourite — often as hotly anticipated as the Monuments themselves. Strade Bianche comes just before the start of Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, and just two weeks ahead of the first Monument of Milan-San Remo.
THE ROUTES
The routes for the men’s and women’s Strade Bianche have been revealed with the men facing an 184 km course and the women racing on a far shorter 136 km route.
The men take on 11 gravel sectors as they wind their way through the undulating Tuscan countryside. The first comes very early in the race after just 17.6 km of riding. The last comes almost 100 km later and with just 10 km until the finish in the Piazza del Campo.
As of yet, the women’s race profile has not been revealed. But the race’s social media shared the map of the 136 km route with 8 gravel sections along the way on a similarly challenging route.
CONTENDERS
MEN'S RACE
Perhaps what most endears fans to Strade Bianche is that it mixes up the Classics riders with the puncheurs, and even some of the Grand Tour GC contenders. Egan Bernal, for instance, took to the podium in 2021, while Tadej Pogačar pulled off a strong 7th on his debut.
Of course, short of a miracle, Bernal will still be in rehabilitation from his terrible training crash in January, meaning he won't start the race this year. However, we expect Pogačar absolutely will, as he comes to Europe after opening his season at the UAE Tour.
Alongside Grand Tour winners, other big names who will be likely to be in attendance include World Champion and 2019 Strade Bianche winner Julian Alaphilippe. He was overpowered in 2021 by Mathieu van der Poel and may be on the hunt for retribution.
Other stars down on the provisional list are Tom Pidcock, Tim Wellens, Benoît Cosnefroy, Greg Van Avermaet, Alejandro Valverde, Tiesj Benoot, Jakob Fuglsang and Ide Schelling.
Wout van Aert will be a hot favourite if he takes to the start line, but his name is yet to feature on the provisional list. Van der Poel’s plans are still unknown as he looks to fully recover from his lingering back and knee injuries.
One young Italian that many will be excited to see is the under-23 World Champion Filippo Baroncini. Strade Bianche is an ideal fit for his blossoming palmarès, and could offer a first true insight into his form in comparison to the fully fledged WorldTour stars.
WOMEN'S RACE
The last few seasons have proven that the women’s professional peloton can prove far more exciting and unpredictable than the men’s field.
Chantal van den Broek-Blaak won last year with a late move that saw her get away from a group containing teammates Demi Vollering and (now retired) Anna van der Breggen.
Of course, SD Worx don’t have Van der Breggen on their roster anymore, but the talent that Vollering brings means she should be one of the big favourites. Vollering's teammate for 2022, Belgian national champion Lotte Kopecky could, on a very good day, be in contention. Van der Breggen will be in her new role in the sport's director seat of the SD Worx team car at the race and her expertise could give the team the upper hand.
Movistar brings Annemiek van Vleuten to the women’s WorldTour race, who as the winner of the overall WorldTour ranking in 2021 will be hoping to get off to a winning start.
Kasia Niewiadoma is always a danger for Canyon-SRAM and should have a solid team around her. Whether we get to see Chloe Dygert racing in Europe this season is not yet known, but she could suit the parcours of Strade Bianche if the team decide to put her on the startline.
Marianne Vos will be leading her Jumbo-Visma squad as she looks to win the race for the very first time. One of few races the cyclocross world champion hasn’t won.Trek-Segafredo will also have a long list of favourites in their team with Italian champion Elisa Longo-Borghini as well as the first ever Paris-Roubaix winner, Lizzie Deignan. (*)
The American registered team should also be using their new signing of world champion Elisa Balsamo and European champion Ellen van Dijk in their line-up.
FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope will likely use a two-pronged attack with Cecile Uttrup Ludwig and new signing Grace Brown, but former Italian champion Marta Cavalli managed 8th at this race in 2021, so she should not be overlooked.
PREDICTIONS
For the men’s event we pick Julian Alaphilippe to take his second victory at the race. Especially if Van Aert and Van der Poel are both not on the start line. Also, a top 5 for the 21-year-old Filippo Baroncini would not be surprising. (**)
(**) Filippo Baroncini crashed at Volta ao Algarve first stage, he broke radio in his right arm.
In the women’s race we predict Demi Vollering will take victory for the first time. She finished in 6th place in 2021, in just her second ride at Strade Bianche. The Dutch rider has been getting to grips with the gravel in multiple training rides this winter, as seen on her Instagram, so she will be familiar with the terrain of the white roads.
Commenti
Posta un commento