Vos and Armitstead to ride Strade Bianche

Some of the biggest names in women’s cycling are set to battle it out at the inaugural women’s Strade Bianche race on March 7, with 16 teams confirmed for the event by organiser RCS Sport.

Five-time Road World Cup winner Marianne Vos (Rabo Liv), 2014 World Cup winner Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) and two-time World Champion Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle-Honda) are all set to ride. Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle-Honda), among others, will also compete in the race that starts shortly before the men’s event.

The hilly 103km race route includes 17km of strade bianche (dirt roads) spread across five sectors, the first and last being the same as the men’s race.

The 16 teams are Rabo Liv, Boels Dolmans, Wiggle-Honda, Velocio-SRAM, Orica-AIS, Bigla Pro Cycling, Lotto-Soudal Ladies, Ale-Cipollini, Inpa Sottoli Giusfredi, Astana-Acca Due O, BTC City Ljubljana, Servetto Footon, S.C. Michela Fanini Rox, BePink-La Classica, Aromitalia Vaiano and Top Girls Fassa Bortolo. Each team will have six riders.

Cyclingnews will have complete coverage of both the men's and women's races, with race reports, photo galleries, news and interviews.

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.