The biggest talking points ahead of Strade Bianche Women - Preview

One of the most celebrated one-day races of the year is upon us at Strade Bianche Women, set to take place on March 4 along the white gravel roads of Tuscany into Siena.

The Women's WorldTour has already begun at the Women's Tour Down Under, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, and UAE Tour Women. Now the Spring Classics are finally in full swing after opening weekend's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Once the kick-off to the top-tier series, Strade Bianche now settles into the fifth round, adding to the excitement as riders and teams have had several weeks to find their legs before tackling the tough races of the spring.

Cyclingnews highlights the biggest talking points ahead of Strade Bianche.

Learn more about the Women's WorldTour in Cyclingnews' definitive guide for 2023, and join Cyclingnews for live coverage of the 2023 Spring Classics. Also check in after each race for our full reports, results, galleries, news and features.

No pressure for Lotte Kopecky

Lotte Kopecky's victory at last year's edition of Strade Bianche, where she out-positioned and out-powered Annemiek van Vleuten on the steep Via Santa Caterina into the Piazza del Campo, was one of the most dramatic moments of the entire season. However, the SD Worx winning wildcard says she's feeling no pressure to defend her title in Siena on Saturday.

Kopecky has had a successful start to her season, securing a solo victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last weekend, and to top it off, the team finish 1-2 on the podium with new signing Lorena Wiebes sprinting for second place in Ninove.

Kopecky may be feeling less pressure now that she has that first season's victory under her belt, but she aims to try for back-to-back wins in Siena.

"It will always remain a special victory for me," Kopecky said. "Thanks to my win in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, I will arrive at the start of Strade Bianche with no pressure. Winning the same race twice in a row is difficult, but I'm going to try anyway."

The steep climbs and gravel roads in Tuscany will cater to Kopecky's strengths. She has already proven her early-season climbing strength, breaking away from her rivals over the decisive Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg to win at Omloop, and she said that her motivation is high and her form will only get better.

"After this win, the motivation for the Strade is very high. I will go full steam ahead. The confidence is there. Strade Bianche suits me. I like the course. My form is good, and I am part of a super strong Team SD Worx."

Kopecky will be joined by teammates Demi Vollering, Niamh Fisher-Black, Elena Cecchini, Misha Bredewold, and Anna Shackley.

Better luck for Annemiek van Vleuten

Annemiek van Vleuten's start to the Spring Classics was hampered by an untimely mechanical at the foot of the Muur van Geraardsbergen that left her out of contention at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. 

She has another chance at success this Saturday during the challenging Strade Bianche, a race that favours her strengths. As long as she has better luck on her side, she is a favourite to win.

The World Champion is only the rider to have won Strade Bianche twice, in 2019 and 2020, but last year she was beaten to the line by a faster Lotte Kopecky in a two-up sprint into the Piazza del Campo. 

Van Vleuten, who is set to retire at the end of this season, is on her farewell tour. While her bigger targets lay further ahead at the Giro d'Italia Donne and the Tour de France Femmes, she still has high hopes for a strong Spring Classics campaign, which will also include the Tour of Flanders and the Ardennes Classics.

Van Vleuten has typically excelled on the steep climbs littered across the Strade Bianche route but admitted that she struggled on the climbs during her first race of the season at Setmana Valenciana. Her flat ahead of the back-to-back Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg made it difficult to gauge her form at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. 

Van Vleuten is never one to shy away from aggressive racing, and she has the support of a powerful team that includes Liane Lippert, Emma Norsgaard, Floortje Mackaij and Sheyla Gutiérrez.

Silvia Persico leads the Italian charge

Siliva Persico has excelled in her new leadership role at UAE Team ADQ, in her first season racing for a top-tier women's team. The Italian all-rounder bided her time during the two opening sprint stages of the UAE Tour Women and then stormed to third place among the top climbers on the decisive Jebel Hafeet, securing third place overall behind compatriots Elisa Longo Borghini and Gaia Realini (both Trek-Segafredo).

Persico's jump from the successful development team Valcar Travel & Service to UAE Team ADQ was an inevitable move after her outstanding performance as the revelation of the Tour de France Femmes. 

The 25-year-old has an impressive range of strength in the sprints and mountains, and a race like Strade Bianche seems almost the perfect backdrop for a versatile rider who also excels in cyclocross.

Longo Borghi and Marta Cavalli were also among the home-nation favourites for Strade Bianche, but both are no longer take to the start line. Longo Borghi has the flu, and Cavalli is still recovering from lingering injuries sustained in a crash at last year's Tour de France Femmes.

Other Italians that could make their mark on the race are Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo), Katia Ragusa (Liv Racing TeqFind), Soraya Paladin (Canyon-SRAM) and Elena Cecchini (SD Worx), but watch for Persico to put on a show in Siena.

Gravel adrenaline

One of the most spectacular races on the calendar, Strade Bianche crosses the picturesque northern Tuscany covering 31.4km of gravel across nine sectors, before finishing on the steep ascent at the Piazza del Campo in Siena.

Under dry and sunny conditions, the loose-packed gravel can be a major challenge to wrestle through, and like the pavé of the Belgian classics, it is a fight for position entering into each sector. 

Much of the excitement of this one-day race happens along the gravel, and it is also a place that wears down the peloton sector by sector and heightens the intensity of the racing.

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio knows this race for its highs and lows, having crashed in a training ride along the gravel in 2020, sustaining injuries that required 60 stitches and other treatment. On the flip side, she also finished third in last year's edition while helping her then-SD Worx teammate Lotte Kopecky to the victory.

“Strade Bianche is one of my favourite races. I love the thrill of the gravel roads and the tension it creates in the peloton. It’s like an adrenaline rush. Last year it was a great race for me when I finished third, even though it wasn’t the plan, I would go for a result, so I worked a lot that day. This year I can focus 100% on getting my best result," said Moolman-Pasio, who will lead AG Insurance-Soudal-QuickStep at this year's event.

Moolman anticipates the first decisive attacks to happen at gravel sector five, followed by sustained efforts through to the final, where she will likely be among the selection. 

Moolman-Pasio recently showed her climbing strength by winning the queen stage at Setmana Valenciana, and could be the one to out-power the rest on the steep slopes into Siena.

"The most important lesson of Strade Bianche is to never stop fighting, and I am certain that this is what this team will do."

Niewiadoma's year to shine in Siena

Following her season debut at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where she finished 24th, Kasia Niewiadoma heads to Italy to compete at Strade Bianche, a race where she has finished on the podium four times but has never won. 

Like many riders in the peloton, Niewiadoma highlights Strade Bianche as her favourite race of the season, and while the victory has eluded her, could this be her year to shine in Siena?

"It's my target, but as I said last week at Omloop, I aim to perform in every race. I have strong feelings for these roads, and I love how unconventional the race is," Niewiadoma said.

"I believe you must be a skilled bike rider in the best shape, well-supported by your team, and able to make the right decisions. A little luck always helps!" 

Niewiadoma's career as a bike racer embodies all of these elements, and she lines up with a Canyon-SRAM team that includes Ricarda Bauernfeind, Elise Chabbey, Tiffany Cromwell, Soraya Paladin and Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka.

Puck Pieterse makes Strade debut

This road racing season marks the arrival in the peloton of two Dutch cyclocross specialists, with Puck Pieterse racing for the newly-upgraded WorldTeam Fenix-Deceuninck and Fem van Empel racing for Jumbo-Visma.

Although Van Empel, the reigning cyclocross World Champion, is scheduled to race during the Spring Classics, she is not registered to compete at Strade Bianche this weekend. 

Pieterse, on the other hand, already started her road racing season at Omloop van het Hageland last weekend, where she finished 36th place in a group two minutes behind winner Lorena Wiebes.

Pieterse, who finished second to Van Empel at the cyclocross Worlds and won four rounds of the World Cup, will undoubtedly be able to put her cyclocross skills to the test during the gravel-heavy Strade Bianche.

She will be supported by a team that also includes Yara Kastelijn, Greta Marturano, Christina Schweinberger, Sophie Wright and Carina Schrempf.

While it takes more than cyclocross skill to excel in a race like Strade Bianche on the Women's WorldTour, it will be exciting to see how Pieterse integrates into the top-tier peloton on the road.