A Triumphant Strada Bianche

A Man in Form

Last weekend’s Strada Bianche race, held in and around magnificent Siena opened the much-delayed WorldTour circuit, showing a world-wide audience exactly why cycling is such a powerful, effective and enduring sport. Beautiful imagery was everywhere in the television broadcast: from the rows of Italian Cypress trees lining the perimeters of the Tuscan castelli; to the mystical visions of the peloton racing through sun filtered dust clouds under canopies of overhanging trees; the broadcast was pure art. For Italy, the fifth-most visited country in the world, where tourism counts for 13% of its GPD – about €230 billion according to the FT – these magnificent images of Tuscany must have given great hope and joy to anyone even remotely affiliated with their tourism industry. There is no sport on earth that can even come close to showcasing the beauty and appeal of a country the way that professional road cycling does: The Strada Bianche created longing – in me anyway and I’m sure for many others – to visit Italy, to sit in a café and simply watch the world go by. That’s powerful, emotional advertising that only cycling can deliver.

Complementing all of that beauty were a pair of cracking races that fascinated from start to finish. World Champion Annemiek van Vleuten, the Dutch phenome, put out a jaw-dropping performance by bridging a three-minute gap from the third group on the road up to the breakaway, then up to the solo leader, the heroic Margarita Victoria García who had been on her own in front for over 40-kilometers. Van Vleuten swept up the Spaniard, and, in a move that showed the grace of a true world champion, kept García in her slipstream until close to the finish, insuring the she would hold on for a most deserved second place after such a courageous ride.  

Van Vleuten has a remarkably fluid style, with a somewhat high saddle position that encourages her down-pointed toe, Anquetil-style pedal action. Her 400-kilometer (240-miles…) training rides in company of her male Mitchelton-Scott teammates show she has no fears, and the incredible fact that van Vleuten’s final 25 kilometers of the Strade Bianche were the third fastest of the day – professional men included – gives an idea of her power. A true champion.

I’d be remiss in not pointing out the excellent third place by the USA’s Leah Thomas, continuing a series of powerful rides by American women at the event, all kicked off by Megan Guarnier’s win in the inaugural 2015 edition.

That men’s race must have been an exercise in terror. First race of the year, everyone fresh and nervous, the “Bianche” – or ancient white gravel roads that the race was created to help preserve – now loose and dusty in summer as opposed to the hard-pack the riders normally encounter in the traditional March date, making navigation treacherous. And goodness, was there carnage. 2019 winner Julian Alaphilippe must have set some sort of record with six, count ‘em, six flat tires, a broken wheel and three bike changes. Vincenzo Nibali, a man who can ride a bicycle, crashed and hurt a hand, pre-race fav Mathieu van der Poel punctured at the wrong moment, Peter Sagan was invisible. Welcome back, boys! By the time the TV went live, there were only about 25 riders left to follow out of the 200 starters.

Danmark’s Jacob Fuglsang, second last year, and looking frightfully thin, opened up the hostilities from the reduced peloton attacking solo with about 45K to the finish in a sign of his confident form. He got into a tussle with a camerabike and made an unforgivable error, screaming “Cazzo” (you dick) which was of course picked up by the world broadcast. You just  can’t do that, especially in these times where everything is so delicate and holding on by a thread. If pro cycling was run NFL style – which it should be – ‘ol Jacob would be facing a very big and public fine for his actions. That attack came to haunt him, the high temperatures of the day made recuperation difficult and Fuglsang apparently never got his core temperature back down, weakening him at the end.

With about 20K to the finish, a superb quartet of survivors were set to contest the win:  Italian Champion Davide Formolo, German Champion Maximillian Schachmann, 2019 Tour of Flanders winner Alberto Bettioli, and three-time World Cyclocross Champion and double Tour de France stage winner (in his first Tour) Wout van Aert. A dream breakaway for the race promotors. Bettiol, racing on home roads, was aggressive but miss-timed his attacks and, like Fulgsang, was dropped, leaving three in front. 

Second placed Formolo, who was hailed as a future Tour winner at the debut of his career, is now on a path to at least approach those lofty goals due in large part to the technical makeover he underwent after leaving Cannondale for Bora-Hansgrohe. Bora Tecnico Patxi Vila lowered the Veronese’s saddle by more than a centimeter, pushing it forward in order to better facilitate the relationship between the hips, lower back and legs, leading to the faster, more efficient pedal action that is crucial for today’s racing. The shorter reach forced him to unlock his elbows and loosen his body on the machine, adding endurance. The results – and now that he’s with UAE Team Emirates, I’m sure the Colnago tecnicos had their own words to say on the matter – from all of these change are clear especially after his excellent performance in this one-day classic.

2020 Paris-Nice winner (remember back then?) Schachmann, who has a wicked high cadence when needed, finished third after an aggressive race. The contrast between the Belgian winner, Wout van Aert and his two breakaway companions was most interesting for me: as I wrote last year: “I could watch van Aert ride all day”. He has the most fluid style one can imagine. The effort just ripples through his body in a perfectly coordinated way. While Formolo is clearly fighting to adapt to a new riding style, and Schachmann, while fast-pedaling and efficient, looks slightly disjointed under effort, van Aert is beauty in motion. His decisive attack on the last gravel climb, the 18% Le Tolfe,– and the way he rode the entire race – was a masterclass in how to ride and race a bicycle. Even during the approach into Siena, van Aert made quick accelerations out of each corner, gaining ¼ second here, ¼ second there. Delightful to see him back in action, especially after his dreadful accident a year ago in the Tour de France.

It was in fact delightful to see them all back in action, my goodness they were missed. My worry is in seeing spectators massed by the side of the road. National Health ministers, in places like Italy where they seem to be making progress on this plague, will rightfully take great displeasure in those images and racing permission could very well be withdrawn. I’ve confidence in the UCI and the teams to do their best in these conditions – sure seem to be doing better than baseball for the moment – but the spectators must be part of the solution too. The racecourses are long: there’s room enough for everyone to watch roadside in a safe manner and to help keep racing going through this time.