2021 Strade Bianche, March 6th

[Eshnar]

The forecasts predict rain on Friday and Saturday, so we all know it's gonna be dry and sunny, 20°C.

PAST EDITIONS:
2020 1 Wout Van Aert - 2 Davide Formolo - 3 Maximilian Schachmann
2019 1 Julian Alaphilippe - 2 Jakob Fuglsang - 3 Wout Van Aert
2018 1 Tiesj Benoot - 2 Romain Bardet - 3 Wout Van Aert
2017 1 Michał Kwiatkowski - 2 Greg Van Avermaet - 3 Tim Wellens
2016 1 Fabian Cancellara - 2 Zdeněk Štybar - 3 Gianluca Brambilla
2015 1 Zdeněk Štybar - 2 Greg Van Avermaet - 3 Alejandro Valverde
2014 1 Michał Kwiatkowski - 2 Peter Sagan - 3 Alejandro Valverde
2013 1 Moreno Moser - 2 Peter Sagan - 3 Rinaldo Nocentini
2012 1 Fabian Cancellara - 2 Maksim Iglinskij - 3 Oscar Gatto
2011 1 Philippe Gilbert - 2 Alessandro Ballan - 3 Damiano Cunego
2010 1 Maksim Iglinskij - 2 Thomas Lövkvist - 3 Michael Rogers
2009 1 Thomas Lovkvist - 2 Fabian Wegmann - 3 Martin Elmige
2008 1 Fabian Cancellara - 2 Alessandro Ballan - 3 Linus Gerdemann
2007 1 Aleksandr Kolobnev - 2 Marcus Ljungqvist - 3 Mychajlo Chalilov

 

[Lequack]

 

[Eshnar]

It would be quicker to list who is missing

 

[Breezy1985]

It would be quicker to list who is missing

God I love this race

 

[RedheadDane]

We're not even getting an hour's coverage of the women's race? I know I shouldn't complain; just a few years ago we weren't getting any coverage, but I want it all, dammit!

Anyway; here are the top-competitors of that race:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Points
1	BROWN Grace	Team BikeExchange
2	NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna	Canyon SRAM Racing
3	LIPPERT Liane	Team DSM
4	BASTIANELLI Marta	Alé BTC Ljubljana
5	KOPECKY Lotte	Liv Racing
6	VAN DER BREGGEN Anna	SD Worx
7	MACKAIJ Floortje	Team DSM
8	VAN DIJK Ellen	Trek-Segafredo Women
9	DEMEY Valerie	Liv Racing
10	BERTIZZOLO Sofia	Liv Racing
11	VOS Marianne	Team Jumbo-Visma Women
12	LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup	FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope
13	COLJÉ Maaike	Massi - Tactic Women Team
14	LIMPENS Pien	Parkhotel Valkenburg
15	LONGO BORGHINI Elisa	Trek-Segafredo Women
16	KOSTER Anouska	Team Jumbo-Visma Women
17	BALSAMO Elisa	Valcar - Travel & Service
18	DEIGNAN Elizabeth	Trek-Segafredo Women
19	CAVALLI Marta	FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope
20	VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek	Movistar Team

 

[Samu Cuenca]

We're not even getting an hour's coverage of the women's race? I know I shouldn't complain; just a few years ago we weren't getting any coverage, but I want it all, dammit!

Anyway; here are the top-competitors of that race:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Points
1	BROWN Grace	Team BikeExchange
2	NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna	Canyon SRAM Racing
3	LIPPERT Liane	Team DSM
4	BASTIANELLI Marta	Alé BTC Ljubljana
5	KOPECKY Lotte	Liv Racing
6	VAN DER BREGGEN Anna	SD Worx
7	MACKAIJ Floortje	Team DSM
8	VAN DIJK Ellen	Trek-Segafredo Women
9	DEMEY Valerie	Liv Racing
10	BERTIZZOLO Sofia	Liv Racing
11	VOS Marianne	Team Jumbo-Visma Women
12	LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup	FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope
13	COLJÉ Maaike	Massi - Tactic Women Team
14	LIMPENS Pien	Parkhotel Valkenburg
15	LONGO BORGHINI Elisa	Trek-Segafredo Women
16	KOSTER Anouska	Team Jumbo-Visma Women
17	BALSAMO Elisa	Valcar - Travel & Service
18	DEIGNAN Elizabeth	Trek-Segafredo Women
19	CAVALLI Marta	FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope
20	VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek	Movistar Team

They could decide to ride very slowly in order to get longer coverage, but otherwise I agree. Hopefully it'll continue to improve step by step.

 

[Spine Concept]

Wout van Aert will win this bike race, again.

 

[Lequack]

Weather should be crap on Saturday, which means mud

 

[Koronin]

This is the one women's race I'd watch from the beginning. It's usually a very good race. Wish they would actually cover it as well as they do the men's race.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

is rain really possible?
wether siena, italy

 

[Gigs_98]

I'll take one rain please

 

[Red Rick]

I'll take one rain please

Spent it all on PR rain last year

 

[will-10]

Wout may well win in the dry, but man I'd love to see him stomp everyone in the mud.

 

[ice&fire]

In the absence of Remco, Pogacar will trigger Van Aert to restart his search for his extra 4%

 

[hayneplane]

I fancy Pogacar to kill them all. WVA and MVDP will be there in the final bar mechanical incidents.

A lot of GC riders obviously looking for race practice on sterrato ahead of the Giro with Bernal, Mollema, Bardet and Simon Yates all on the list.

Would love to see Sagan tick off one of the rare achievements on the calendar that he hasn’t won before but so soon from a bout of Covid I doubt he will have the top end power or endurance to live with the very best.

 

[RedheadDane]

I fancy Pogacar to kill them all.

That's... illegal.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

That's... illegal.

I think there's a transition period until April 1.

 

[Keram]

Would love to see Sagan tick off one of the rare achievements on the calendar that he hasn’t won before but so soon from a bout of Covid I doubt he will have the top end power or endurance to live with the very best.

If he will start. Still so little info about his health and training after Covid. But I am sure if he will participate he will be non factor in this race.

 

[Sciatic]

This is the one women's race I'd watch from the beginning. It's usually a very good race. Wish they would actually cover it as well as they do the men's race.

Actually, they usually don’t cover enough of the men’s race either; I think I recall tuning in at the start of broadcast coverage to find that the key splits forming the lead groups had already happened

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Kasia to be 2nd in accordance with the prophecy

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Interested to see how far Simmons can get here, he's a big engine/ITT/classics guy who can climb well, not super heavy, and has experience riding on gravel/dirt roads. He's done hard training sessions and should be in good form early. Unless he has other things on his mind ofcourse.

 

[tobydawq]

This is the one women's race I'd watch from the beginning. It's usually a very good race. Wish they would actually cover it as well as they do the men's race.

Don't worry, it will rain this year, so not worth watching.

 

[SafeBet]

Easy with the excitement for the weather.
It's very early to have accurate forecasts.

 

[tobydawq]

I think this will be a titanic battle between Van Aert, Van der Poel and Alaphilippe.

 

[Leinster]

Interested to see how far Simmons can get here, he's a big engine/ITT/classics guy who can climb well, not super heavy, and has experience riding on gravel/dirt roads. He's done hard training sessions and should be in good form early. Unless he has other things on his mind ofcourse.

He’s going to stop at every pizza restaurant on the route to check their basements.