Strade Bianche Women 2015

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The 2015 race will be the first edition of the Strade Bianche Women, and will take place ahead of the more established men’s event on the same day. Given a 1.1 categorisation in its first year, it has attracted a strong field. There will be 16 teams each of six riders on the start line. Home favourites Rossella Ratto (Inpa Sottoli Giusfredi), Valentina Scandolara (Orica-AIS), Giorgia Bronzini and Elisa Longo Borghini (both Wiggle-Honda) will be lining up against the best that the rest of the world has to offer – including Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv Women), Lizzie Armitstead and Ellen van Dijk (both Boels Dolmans).

The race distance nudges just over the 100-kilometre mark taking the peloton over an undulating parcours. Starting in San Gimignano and finishing in the picturesque city of Siena, the riders will face a total of 17 kilometres over the ‘strade bianche’ or ‘white roads’. The last strade bianche comes with little more than 10 kilometres remaining and the steep climb, which maxes out at 18 percent, could be the decider in the fight for victory. There is still plenty of challenging terrain before the finish in the Piazza del Campo.