Strade Bianche 2018

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March 3, 2018, Siena, Tuscany, Road - WorldTour

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Full live coverage of the 2018 Strade Bianche, the iconic Italian Classic that is raced over the dirt roads in the rolling hills of Tuscany.

 

Good morning and a very warm welcome to the Cyclingnews live race centre for the 2018 Strade Bianche.

The team buses have all arrived in Siena and the riders are signing-on and going through their pre-race rituals. Things will get underway at 10.35 local time and, after a short neutralised section, racing proper will commence at 10.45.

Before we go anywhere, now’s probably the time to have a read of our 2018 Strade Bianche preview, courtesy of our European Editor and adoptive Tuscan, Stephen Farrand.

The teams are being presented to the fans in Siena. And here are those fans...

Peter Sagan, dressed up in black world champion's layers to keep the weather out, is presented to the crowd. He cracks a joke on stage, battles his way through the selfies and locates his bike. With that, we're just about ready for the start of the race. 

As well as the men’s race, we also have the women’s Strade Bianche today, kicking off the 2018 UCI Women’s WorldTour.

They're off

So, 184 kilometres and 11 sectors of strade bianche separate the riders from the finish line. 

The flag has dropped and we are racing. Let's see who's up for getting in the breakaway today.

Still all together in the opening kilometres.

174km remaining from 184km

In the women's race the peloton is also as one as they near the half-way mark. They're through the feed zone and heading to the fifth sector, which is the longest of the 136km route and which should see a shake-up. 

Strade Bianche has quickly acquired a reputation as one of the most visually striking races in professional cycling, so while wait for the race to take shape, why not have a flick through these photos from the last 10 years. 

We have what looks like a promising breakaway attempt as we come off the first sector and head towards the second. 

The peloton is still chasing as the race hits the second sector at Bagnaia. It's 5.8km long and is mostly uphill, with gradients of 10%.

Here's the list of sectors, by the way. The first distance marker is how far into the race it appears, then in brackets is the length of the sector itself. 

31km remaining from 184km

153km remaining from 184km

Here's a shot from the Team Sky Twitter account showing the conditions out there. 

Big split in the peloton and we now have 70 riders in the first group.

30 seconds is the gap at the moment.

Over in the women's race, things are taking shape. There are three riders off the front in Anna van der Breggen (Boels Dolmans), Ellen van Dijk (Sunweb), and Alena Amialiusik (Canyon-SRAM). 2017 champion Elisa Longo Borghini has punctured.

Team Sky set the pace in the front group as we head towards the fourth sector. It's an absolute mudbath out there already. 

Here's Peter Sagan at sign-on this morning.

134km remaining from 184km

The weather is playing havoc with the communication of race information. We'll let you know who's in which group, who's missed out, etc, as soon as possible. 

A group of eight riders has broken free from the first peloton and has opened up a lead of 45 seconds. 

Two more riders have clipped off as well and are trying to make the bridge to the leaders.

126km remaining from 184km

The women's race hangs in the balance. Chantaal Blaak (Boels Dolmans), Ellen van Dijk (Sunweb), and Alena Amialiusik (Canyon-SRAM) have 45 seconds on the peloton with 35km remaining.

The break is clear in the men's race, but Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) and a Bahrain-Merida rider are still chasing to get up to the group. 

120km remaining from 184km

It seems the peloton is already more than 5 minutes in arrears. It's unclear at the moment if that's 60 riders or if the second dropped peloton has come back. 

Peter Sagan is making his European season debut after riding the Tour Down Under in January. He skipped the opening weekend last week in order to be fresher for the main spring classics period, and so his form is something of an unknown. 

109km remaining from 184km

The wet and muddy conditions have contributed to a relatively slow average speed so far of 38.5km/h.

All change in the women's race. That trio has been caught and 2017 champion Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle High5) is off the front with Anna van der Breggen (Boels Dolmans). 18km to go. 

Van der Breggen drops Longo Borghini and goes it alone. There's a group of 7 just behind Longo Borghini. 

We're still waiting on confirmation of the full list of riders in the breakaway in the men's race.

Michal Kwiatkowski's Team Sky lead the peloton, and the gap to the break has come down to a more manageable 3:30.

We've lost images from the women's race - it's that kind of day - but Van der Breggen is on her way to victory. She has a lead of over a minute now. 

Still no images of the women's race apart from a wet Piazza del Campo. Van der Breggen will be nearing the final kilometre now. Longo Borghini and Niewiadoma are chasing but were 1.25 back a few moments ago. 

Anna van der Breggen wins the 2018 women's Strade Bianche

Van der Breggen with an incredible victory. Niewiadoma finishes second, 49 seconds down, and Longo Borghini third, a further 10 seconds back. 

79km remaining from 184km

Here are 8 of the 10 riders out front.

65km remaining from 184km

As we come to the end of sector 7, Pierre Latour and Valentin Madouas lead the race. And now a Movistar rider comes across.

It's Jose Joaquin Rojas for Movistar. That trio has 14 seconds on what is an extremely fragmented peloton.

The peloton is reforming and coming back now. Remember that the peloton actually split in two very early on, and the front 'peloton' has only reduced since then. No more than 50 riders in there. 

60km remaining from 184km

Just as the junction is made, a new group of 10 clips away on the downhill tarmacked roads. 

Kwiatkowski is in this front group.

The leaders

54km remaining from 184km

Sector 8 is the hardest of the whole race. It is 11.5km long and is a constant mix of climbing and descending.

15 seconds is still the gap but the chasing group is blowing apart on this sector. 

Amazing to see Wout Van Aert up there. The young Belgian has been cyclo-cross world champion the last three years in a row and there's plenty of excitement over what he could achieve on the road. He made the late selection at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last weekend and here he is again. His 'cross skills should come in handy on this terrain. Here are his pre-race thoughts. 

Madouas dropped from the lead group.

Sagan, Stybar, Vanmarcke all in the chasing group of 15. No sign of Van Avermaet.

Valverde attacks from the lead group. Benoot is in that group too. 

In the chase group behind Romain Bardet is on the move.

Sagan, sorry, has made it up to the front group now.

Great effort from Bardet to make contact with the lead group himself now. 

Bardet comes straight to the front of the group and drives the pace. He's a Grand Tour climber making his Strade Bianche debut but likes one-day racing too and has been looking forward to this one all week.

Bardet has a gap as the rest of the group look around at each other. Van Aert comes across now to make it a duo.

The hesitation in what was the lead group means that the chasers, including Stybar, have come back up to join them.

42km remaining from 184km

That was indeed a crucial phase of the race. There are now 15 or so kilometres of normal roads before the final three sectors of dirt appear in quick succession. 

There are around 25 riders in the chase group. 

Gianni Moscon is in this chase group and hits the front. Sky also have Salvatore Puccio in there along with Kwiatkowski. Moscon has actually slightly distanced Kwiatkowski with that acceleration. He eases up.

38km remaining from 184km

Benoot attacks now. He's followed by Pieter Serry from Quick-Step and others want to get involved too. 

Benoot calls for cooperation from those who've bridged across to him.

35km remaining from 184km

The chase group has pretty much split in two as a result of that flurry of attacks.

Sagan and Kwiatkowski wait in the wings behind as others from that second chase group try to raise the pace.

Benoot and Serry now leave the rest of that group behind. 

Sagan has teammate Marcus Burghardt doing the work in his chasing group behind. Kwiatkowski and Valverde are up there too, Stybar, too.

27km remaining from 184km

We've had some fresh time gaps in and here's how it looks. 

Here we go with sector 9. It's only just under a kilometre but they all hurt at this point in the race. 

The two leaders

19km remaining from 184km

Benoot waves goodbye to Serry and ploughs on alone. Meanwhile Rob Power and Giovanni Visconti have set off from the first big chase group. 

Here's our full report from the women's race

That was a big acceleration from Benoot and he's cut 10 seconds from the gap in an instant. He's now 23 seconds behind the leading duo. 

16km remaining from 184km

We finally get a glimpse of Sagan and his group behind. He's with Stybar but that's the fifth group on the road and I think we can assume they're out of the picture now. 

Power and Visconti catch Serry to make it a chasing trio, 1:10 behind the leading trio. 

Benoot attacks!

12km remaining from 184km

The fragmented chase groups are coming back up to Power, Visconti, and Serry. They're 1:10 down on Benoot, Bardet, and Van Aert.

Benoot has timed that well and comes over the top of the climb without going too far into the red. He's onto a downhill section now with a sizeable gap.

11km remaining from 184km

Probably time to get your predictions in. 

Stybar is back in the mix! He's reached that Visconti/Sery/Power group along with Amador. That is now a five-man group and the third group on the road. They're 1:19 in arrears, however. 

Benoot, caked in mud with no arm warmers, leg warmers, or glasses, extends his lead to 24 seconds with just over 8.2km remaining.

Benoot is heading towards a huge victory. Remarkably, it would be his first as a professional. The Belgian has been touted as a star since he finished fifth at the 2015 Tour of Flanders in his neo-pro season but he's yet to land even a small victory. He's always preached quality over quantity, and this would certainly justify that. 

6km remaining from 184km

It's Valverde, not Amador, in that chase group, but they're 1:30 down.

Words exchanged between Bardet and Van Aert but this is slipping away from them and is becoming a battle for the podium.

2km remaining from 184km

1km remaining from 184km

Benoot hits the viciously steep narrow road up towards the square. You can lose seconds quickly here with empty legs but he's looking strong. 

Benoot is over the climb and just has to negotiate a couple more corners before he drops down to the line

Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) wins Strade Bianche

Delight for Benoot as he punches the air with both arms. 

Bardet drops Van Aert on the climb and takes second place.

And now Van Aert crosses the line for third place. A huge ride from the cyclo-cross world champion. 

Valverde takes fourth place, followed by Visconti and Power, with Stybar a few seconds further back. 

Peter Sagan comes home now for a top 10 finish.

Top 10

Here's reaction from Benoot

Here's our full race report

More from Benoot

Van Avermaet had no impact on the race today. He was open about his distaste for the cold at a particularly chilly opening weekend a week ago, and today he blamed the conditions.  

Video footage has emerged of Van Aert on that final ramp towards the finish. He's completely spent, cannot turn the pedals anymore and literally falls off his bike. He gets back up, runs with his bike à la cyclo-cross and gets back on to secure the podium. Incredible day for the young Belgian. Our man Stephen Farrand spoke to him at the finish and will have a story shortly. 

As promised, here's the story on Van Aert

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