Strade Bianche 2017 [FULL RACE]

March 4, 2017
Strade Bianche 2017 – Siena – Siena – 175 KM

The 2017 Strade Bianche was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 4 March. It was the eleventh edition of the Strade Bianche and was the fifth event of the 2017 UCI World Tour. It was the first time that the race was included in the UCI World Tour calendar.

Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) was the last man standing at Strade Bianche as the Pole soloed clear in the finale to claim victory in an attritional edition of the Tuscan race.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) led Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) home 15 seconds later, but the chasers never looked likely to get on terms with Kwiatkowski once he established a lead of half a minute on the approach to the finish in Siena.

“I’m so happy, it’s an unexpected victory,” Kwiatkowski said. “After the difficult season I had last year, I still had a lot of trust from the team. Now the preparation for this season has already paid off. A second victory at the Strade Bianche, it’s just amazing.”

Kwiatkowski was prominent when the decisive selection of the race took shape on the long sector of dirt road at Monte Sante Marie, the so-called Cancellara segment, with more than 50 kilometres still to go, and he remained an aggressive presence at the front thereafter.

He showcased his strength by leading Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step Floors) over the climb of Monteaperti and then performing the bulk of the pace-setting on the Colle Pinzuto, by which point he had only Stybar, Wellens and Van Avermaet for company.

When Kwiatkowski won this race in 2014, he waited until the final haul into the heart of Siena to make his decisive attack, bludgeoning his way clear of Peter Sagan on that occasion. This time around, he seized his opportunity on a rise with a shade under 15 kilometres remaining, sensing that his three erstwhile breakaway companions might struggle to organise a cohesive chase.

“We started to play a game after the Sante Marie section – I actually didn’t feel so good there – but I thought the best situation was to do my own thing, that’s why I went from so far out and I’m glad it worked out well,” he said.

It was, however, a victory of raw strength as much as it was of cunning. The on-form Van Avermaet, in particular, was generous in his chase efforts, but was unable to make any inroads into Kwiatkowski’s advantage, which swelled to 30 seconds as he bounded up the 18 per cent gradient on the final dirt road section at Le Tolfe.

Rain fell steadily for much of the second half of the race, and the dirt roads were often treacherous, even if the peloton was spared the carnage of the famous downpour that washed over the Giro d’Italia stage to Montalcino in 2010. Kwiatkowski made light of the conditions, and safely navigated the final gravel descent to hold a lead of half a minute as he began the climb to Siena.

Kwiatkowski betrayed few obvious signs of weakness in the final kilometre, remaining in the saddle for all but the steepest part of the climb, and steadily tapping out a rhythm that saw him maintain his advantage over the chasers.

Despite Van Avermaet’s acceleration on the climb, it was Kwiatkowski himself who made the only real dent in his advantage, as he slowed almost to walking pace to negotiate the final, rain-soaked corners as the road dipped towards the dramatic finish line in Siena’s Piazza del Campo. He punched the air as he crossed the finish line, and issued a timely reminder of his qualities as the Classics appear on the horizon.

Van Avermaet won the sprint for second place ahead of Wellens, 15 seconds down, while Stybar came home in fourth. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), who was to the fore all day, came across in fifth place after leading the Orica-Scott duo of Luke Durbridge and Christopher Juul Jensen in a forlorn pursuit of the winning move.

Sagan abandons

As ever at Strade Bianche, there was no shortage of attackers hoping to forge clear ahead of the early dirt road sectors, but it wasn’t until the third segment at Radi that the day’s early break gained a foothold. There was a surprising name among the leaders, too, as Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) joined Jose Goncalves (Katusha-Alpecin), Marco Frapporti (Androni), Truls Engen Korsaeth (Astana), Quentin Jaregui (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Simone Andreetta (Bardiani-CSF) in a group that gained a maximum advantage of five minutes over the peloton.

There was plenty of method to Pinot’s madness, as he survived to finish the race in an assured 9th place. A lethal combination of wind, crosswinds and large crash on the sixth dirt road sector at Pieve a Salti splintered the peloton into shards, with Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Fabio Aru (Astana) among those caught irretrievably behind, while Gianluca Brambilla (Quick-Step) was forced out by a crash.

World champion Peter Sagan battled for a time to stay in contact with the second part of the peloton, but he climbed off with 70 kilometres remaining. His Bora-Hansgrohe team later explained that he had been ill coming into the race, but had hoped he might be able to be competitive nonetheless.

By that time, Lotto Soudal were leading the charge at the front of the 15-man chasing group, with Sean De Bie burying himself in the service of Wellens and Tiesj Benoot, and they reached the section of dirt road dedicated to Fabian Cancellara just 1:30 down on the leaders.

It was on the uphill section of the Monte Sante Marie that the winning move began to take shape, when Wellens accelerated, bringing Stybar, Kwiatkowski, Van Avermaet, Benoot, Dumoulin, Van Avermaet and Durbridge with him. Scott Thwaites, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step) later bridged up to them, and that twelve caught the remnants of the early break with 35 kilometres remaining.

From there, the race became something of a slugging match, with the front group continuously splintering and reforming, but Kwiatkowski, Stybar, Van Avermaet and Wellens seemed always to be on the right side of the splits. There was little surprise when they eventually forged clear ahead of the finale, though Dumoulin may feel he paid a price for his whole-hearted efforts in trying to close earlier gaps.

Kwiatkowski proceeded to single himself out as the man to watch with his demonstration of strength on the Colle Pinzuto, but when he accelerated 15 kilometres from home, nobody could take his wheel, and the race was his.

Results :
1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 4:42:42
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:15
3 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:17
4 Zdenek Štybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:23
5 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:26
6 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott
7 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-Scott 0:01:29
8 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:20
9 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:02:23
10 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:02:52
11 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:03:10
12 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:05
13 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
14 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:04:41
15 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:05:31
16 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Team UAE Emirates 0:05:41
17 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky 0:05:55
18 Ondrej Cink (Cze) Bahrain-Merida 0:06:22
19 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:08:15
20 Truls Korsæth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
21 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:08:41
22 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:10:13
23 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:15
24 Floris De Tier (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:10:16
25 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:10:20
26 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
27 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
28 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ 0:10:21
29 Andrey Amador Bikkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team 0:10:24
30 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:10:29
31 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data
32 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:10:30
33 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
34 Julien Vermote (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
35 Primož Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:10:36
36 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:10:41
37 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
38 Moreno Moser (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:10:44
39 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:10:49
40 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:51
41 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
42 Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale 0:13:37
43 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
44 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:13:38
45 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
46 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
47 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
48 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
49 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Sunweb
50 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
51 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
52 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
53 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
54 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:13:45
55 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:13:46
56 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
57 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
58 Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro (Ecu) Movistar Team
59 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky 0:13:49
60 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
61 Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott
62 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ 0:13:51
63 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:13:54
64 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Cannondale-Drapac
65 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) ANS 0:13:56
66 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:14:01
67 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ 0:14:08
68 Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott 0:14:23
69 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani – CSF 0:14:38
70 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:18:54
71 Jay Mccarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
72 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec 0:18:55
73 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac
74 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
75 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale-Drapac
76 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
77 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:19:00
78 Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani – CSF 0:22:38
79 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:52
80 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Team UAE Emirates
81 David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
82 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
83 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
84 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
85 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
86 Jorge Arcas Peña (Spa) Movistar Team
87 Ángel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
88 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
89 Raffaello Bonusi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Marco Benfatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Luca Pacioni (Ita) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
DNF Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Manuele Boaro (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani – CSF
DNF Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani – CSF
DNF Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani – CSF
DNF Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani – CSF
DNF Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani – CSF
DNF Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani – CSF
DNF Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
DNF Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
DNF Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
DNF Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
DNF Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
DNF Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac
DNF William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
DNF Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) FDJ
DNF Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ
DNF Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
DNF Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Carlos Barbero Cuesta (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Jose Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) Movistar Team
DNF Nuno Matos (Por) Movistar Team
DNF Antonio Pedrero Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Yuma Koishi (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Kohei Uchima (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
DNF Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Orica-Scott
DNF Alexander Edmonson (Aus) Orica-Scott
DNF Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott
DNF Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-Scott
DNF Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
DNF Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
DNF Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data
DNF Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
DNF Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
DNF Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
DNF Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
DNF Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Kristijan Ðurasek (Cro) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Sacha Modolo (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Edward Ravasi (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Oliviero Troia (Ita) Team UAE Emirates