Van Vleuten wins women's Strade Bianche

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Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) ended the 2018 season with a fractured knee cap but confirmed she is already back to her best with a solo victory at Strade Bianche, the first race of the UCI Women's WorldTour, on Saturday.

The time trial world champion attacked alone on the final, steep section of dirt road and time trialled to victory as her rivals hesitated in their chase.

She opened a 45-second lead and held it on the steep final climb of Via Santa Caterina up to central Siena, celebrating her solo win in the Piazza il Campo. Annika Langvad (Boels Dolmans) finished second at 37 seconds, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma Canyon-SRAM third at 40 seconds.

World champion Anna van der Breggen was distanced from the big-name group that tried to chase van Vleuten on the final climb and finished ninth at 1:28.

125 riders from 21 teams set out on the 136km course starting and finishing in Siena. The main difficulties were the eight sectors of the gravel roads that gave the race its name. Ranging in length from 800 metres to 9.5km, a total of 31.6km were to be raced on the eponymous strade bianche.

A first break of four riders formed after 16km, but they were caught again on the second gravel sector.

Team Sunweb and CCC-Liv took charge of the peloton early in the race. On the fourth sector, the peloton split for the first time, but came back together on the asphalt. It was on sector five, the longest at 9.5km and starting with 67.5km to go, that the race started in earnest. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Bigla) had to chase back after a puncture, and Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) crashed and had to abandon the race.

Several attacks led to splits in the peloton but, in the end, a group of about 35 riders left the sector together, with additional riders coming back from behind. There were 25 kilometres to the sixth sector - but this didn't stop riders from attacking. A group of 12 briefly got clear and, although their attack did not last long, another split led to a front group of 23 riders.

A move by Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels Dolmans), Hannah Barnes (Canyon-SRAM), Jeanne Korevaar (CCC-Liv), Julie van de Velde (Lotto Soudal Ladies), Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Trek-Segafredo), and Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb) built a gap of 24 seconds before being reeled in with 33km to go.

The next attack came from Canuel, Elena Cecchini (Canyon-SRAM), and Tayler Wiles (Trek-Segafredo). The trio was caught on the sixth gravel sector, and then a group of 11 went clear on the seventh sector ending with 17km to go. The race would be decided between world champion Anna van der Breggen, Chantal Blaak, Langvad (all Boels Dolmans), Ludwig, Niewiadoma, Marianne Vos (CCC-Liv), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (CCC-Liv), Van Vleuten, Janneke Ensing (Team Sunweb), Marta Bastianelli (Team Virtu Cycling), and Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo).

Those 11 traded attacks continuously, though nobody would get a gap until Blaak and Ensing made a move with 13.5km to go, just before the start of the final gravel sector. Blaak left Ensing behind but faltered on the 18 per cent climb and was caught by Van Vleuten, who continued on her own. Vos and Niewiadoma tried to follow the Dutchwoman but could not close the gap.

Showing why she is the reigning ITT world champion, Van Vleuten added to her advantage on the following kilometres and could enter the final kilometre 46 seconds ahead of the chase group. In the end, she could celebrate on the Piazza del Campo as she soloed to victory just over five months after fracturing her knee in the Innsbruck World Championships Road Race.

Further behind, nine riders came onto the final climb up the steep Via Santa Caterina together. After a strong surge by Niewiadoma, it was Langvad who reached the corner at the top first and finished second in her first-ever Women's WorldTour race. The Polish rider rounded out the podium.

With her win, Van Vleuten takes the lead in the UCI Women's WorldTour ranking, picking up where she left off after having won the classification in 2018.

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