Strade Bianche 2015 [LAST 30 KM]

March 7, 2015

Strade Bianche 2015 – San Gimignano – Siena : 200 km

The dirt roads or ‘strade bianche’ and the rolling hills of southern Tuscany will again provide a testing race route and stunning backdrop for the Strade Bianche race on Saturday March 7. Despite only being created in 2007, Strade Bianche has become an iconic Classic with riders keen to win one of the most spectacular races of the season. Race organisers RCS Sport have also created a women’s version of the race for 2015, with a sportif event also set for Sunday, the day after the professional races. RCS Sport has coined the slogan of “La classica del nord piu al sud di Europa” –the northern Classics at the most southern point in Europe.The 200km route starts in the shadows of the iconic towers of San Gimignano and ends in the spectacular Piazza Il Campo in the centre of Siena. The ten sections of dirt roads, for a total of over 50km of racing, will test rider’s ability and form, with the late sections of dirt roads expected to split the peloton and reveal who will fight for victory on the steep climb to the centre of Siena.

Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quick Step) took the win in Strade Bianche, exploding past Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) on the Via Santa Caterina in Siena to win by two seconds on Saturday. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who was dropped on the final 16 per cent climb, finished third.

The trio had broken away with 20km left and despite numerous attempted attacks, came under the flamme rouge together. Van Avermaet was the first to attack in the finale, with Valverde the first to try and close the gap. However the Spaniard, who had been in every significant move of the race and had used his Movistar team to control the peloton for most of the race, was unable to respond to the final two attacks of the race. While Van Avermaet’s initial move proved decisive in the allocation of podium places, it was Stybar’s stinging acceleration that decided the race.

The Czech was quickly moved onto the BMC rider’s rear wheel and when the Belgian began to ease the Etixx rider rose from the saddle once more. Although the gradient had begun to ease, Van Avermaet was forced to concede and could only watch on as his rival ensured Etixx retained their race title from 2014.

“In the final kilometres I thought that Valverde would attack but then Greg surprised me and went really early, at the bottom of the steepest part of the final climb,” Stybar said. “I got on his wheel but I knew I’d have to overtake him at the top otherwise I’d be second. I wanted to win today and so did everything I could to overtake him and take this beautiful win.”

It was a near-faultless display from Stybar who had matched an earlier move from Valverde and Peter Sagan on the Monte Sante Marie. The three riders initially worked well together but with over 50 kilometres of racing remaining there was still a large contingent within the peloton with enough strength to muster a chase.

It was Lars Boom and Astana who lit the touch paper just before Stybar, Valverde and Sagan had pushed clear but by the time some of that dust had settled the leading group contained Fabian Cancellara, Sep Vanmarcke, Sagan, Stybar, Rosa, Valverde, Cort Nielsen, Van Avermaet, Daniel Oss and Nathan Haas.

The action saw the early escape of the day, which contained away nearly from Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani-CSF), Giacomo Berlato and Daniele Colli (both Nippo-Vini Fantini), Giuseppe Fonzi (Southeast), Artem Ovechkin (RusVelo), David Lozano (Novo Nordisk), Julian Arredondo (Trek) and Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre-Merida) brought to heel.

When Stybar, Valverde and Sagan managed to break free they established a twenty second lead but their advantage was short lived with the original ten – minute Nielsen establishing a one minute lead over the remnants of the field.

Only Orica GreenEdge were in a position and willing disposition to lead a chase but with such firepower out in front and so many of the major teams represented, capture seemed impossible.

Oss and Van Avermaet traded turns on the front of the leading group with Van Avermaet, Vanmarcke, and Sagan early aggressors as the break attempted to shed passengers. Valverde and Cancellara – the two most experienced in the move – looked to keep the peace until the next section of dirt roads but that tactic was lost when Oss, back from injury, soared clear just before Monteaperti.

Vanmarcke, always a threat, countered with a searing attack soon after. It was a devastating move. Sagan blown away by its sheer ferocity, with Oss caught for good measure.

It meant that with 19km to go a winner would come from either Van Avermaet, Vanmarcke, Cancellara, Stybar and Valverde. That number was reduced further when Cancellara began to pedal squares on the Colle Pinzuto with Valverde applying the pressure this time.

A move from Van Avermaet was countered by Stybar and Valverde but Vanmarcke was unable to follow as Cancellara, Rosa, and Oss formed their own group at just over 30 seconds in arrears.

Valverde, Stybar, Van Avermaet, then the lonesome Vanmarcke ahead of Cancellara, Rosa and Oss – all three groups swapping seconds between them on the final run into Siena but there was no way back for any of the chasers with the three strongest riders in the race proving their worth.

On paper Valverde would be the strongest climber among the trio but early season form can be as deceptive as it can be short-lived and it was Van Avermaet who threw caution to the wind with the first attack on the final climb.

Valverde, obliged to respond, more out of reputation perhaps, managed to hold the gap but it was Stybar who not only had the strongest legs but the freshest mind. He zipped around the Spaniard at the perfect moment, caught Van Avermaet before the crest of the summit and from that moment the race was won.

Results :
1 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step 5:22:13
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:02
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:18
4 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:46
5 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:56
6 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:59
7 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx – Quick-Step
8 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 0:01:02
9 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 0:01:03
10 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha
11 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo
12 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Team Katusha 0:01:07
13 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
14 Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:10
15 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
16 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:01:19
17 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:01:22
18 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:01:26
19 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing
20 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
21 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge 0:01:29
22 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:01:56
23 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:01:57
24 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:01
25 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Trek Factory Racing 0:02:10
26 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:02:19
27 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:04:21
28 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:04:30
29 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:04:47
30 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 0:04:49
31 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:05:13
32 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo
33 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling 0:05:40
34 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica GreenEdge 0:06:34
35 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling 0:06:51
36 Elia Favilli (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling 0:07:35
37 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
38 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
39 Aleksei Tsatevich (Rus) Team Katusha
40 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
41 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
42 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha
43 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre-Merida
44 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
45 Jose Rodolfo Serpa (Col) Lampre-Merida
46 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
47 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Team Sky
48 Marco Fontana (Ita) Italy
49 Dmitrii Kozonchuk (Rus) Team Katusha
50 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha 0:07:49
51 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:08:16
52 Andrei Solomennikov (Rus) RusVelo 0:11:18
53 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) RusVelo
54 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
55 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:11:22
56 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
57 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:12:12
58 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:18:31
59 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:19:20
60 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
61 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
62 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Movistar Team
63 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek Factory Racing
64 Ivan Balykin (Rus) RusVelo
65 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Androni Giocattoli
66 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Etixx – Quick-Step
67 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
68 Roman Maikin (Rus) RusVelo
69 Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
70 David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
71 Davide Appollonio (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
72 Artem Ovechkin (Rus) RusVelo
73 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
74 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
75 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
76 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
77 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge
78 Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team 0:22:53
79 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
80 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
81 Daniele Colli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
82 Rick Flens (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
83 Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:23:20
84 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky 0:23:22
85 Manabu Ishibashi (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:24:14
OTL Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:27:32
OTL Simone Velasco (Ita) Italy 0:29:20
OTL Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:29:24
OTL Artem Nych (Rus) RusVelo 0:31:14
OTL Luca Braidot (Ita) Italy 0:32:51
DNF Carlos Betancur (Col) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Marco Bandiera (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Tiziano Dall’Antonia (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Alberto Nardin (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Gianfranco Zilioli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
DNF Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Francesco Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Andrea Piechele (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Peter Stetina (USA) BMC Racing Team
DNF Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Lampre-Merida
DNF Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida
DNF Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Nicholas Pettina (Ita) Italy
DNF Seid Lizde (Ita) Italy
DNF Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Antonio Nibali (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
DNF Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
DNF Adam Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge
DNF Petr Ignatenko (Rus) RusVelo
DNF Roman Kustadinchev (Rus) RusVelo
DNF Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling
DNF Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling
DNF Jonathan Monsalve (Ven) Southeast Pro Cycling
DNF Simone Ponzi (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling
DNF Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Southeast Pro Cycling
DNF Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
DNF Kevin De Weert (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Nicolas Lefrancois (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
DNF Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
DNF Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo
DNF Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Jasper Stuyven (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
DNF Calvin Watson (Aus) Trek Factory Racing
DNS Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNS Ruben Zepuntke (Ger) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team