2017 Strade Bianche-Eroica Toscana (1.1), Italy
11th edition: Saturday, March 4, 2017
Montepaschi Strade Bianche historical results | 2016 edition | 2018 edition | Course description | Course map and profile | Race photos | Start list
Siena - Siena, 175 km
11 sections of white roads, totalling 61.9 km
Michal Kwiatkowski wins 2017 Strade Bianche. Sirotti photo
The race: Here's the story from winner Kwiatkowski's Sky team.
The team’s fifth victory of 2017 is the 250th in its illustrious history and it was sealed in magical style, as Kwiatkowski dominated in Italy, proving that he’s back to his very best.
The 26 year old - who also won the race in 2014 - looked strong from the start and chose the perfect moment to attack on a gruelling wet day in Tuscany, pushing clear of his rivals with 14 kilometres to go.
It looked to be a brave move at the time but it paid dividends, as the Pole quickly forged a significant 30-second gap that never closed.
Greg van Avermaet (BMC) and Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) battled hard behind but couldn’t get close to Kwiatkowski, and the pair had to settle with second and third respectively in Siena’s famous Piazza del Campo after a spectacular 175km.
2017 has started strongly for ‘Kwiato’ with a fine ride to second overall at the Volta ao Algarve and now a win at Strade Bianche, but 2016 was tough for the 26 year old and he was quick to thank the team for the trust placed in him after his epic ride.
He said: “I was thinking about last year when I crossed the line, and I feel so satisfied. The team has put big trust in to me and all the hard work I’ve done in preparation for this season has paid off. It’s the second victory at Strade Bianche in my career - it’s just amazing. Coming into the final stages alone was an incredible feeling.”
Explaining his bold attack, Kwiatkowski added: “We started to play a game after the Sante Marie section. I didn’t feel so good there, but the cooperation wasn’t so strong among the group, so I thought the best thing was to go at my own pace.
“I didn’t think they’d cooperate well behind me and I could choose my own pace, my own tempo, and go to the finish. I’m so happy that it worked out. The team has put big trust in to me and all the hard work I’ve done in preparation for this season has paid off."
Team Sky Sport Director Dario Cioni explained that bad luck prevented Diego Rosa and Gianni Moscon from helping Kwiatkowski in the latter stages. He said: “The race was split open with 100km to go. There was a big attack from the Lotto Soudal guys and Kwiato entered that group.
“But there was also a crash that cut out a couple of our guys. Diego had to change his bike and we had a lot of guys in the group that was then 30 seconds down, but there was another crash and Gianni went down, so that was the main reason the guys were behind.
“It’s a race where you need to be lucky… but we won the race, so we can’t complain!”
Commenting on it being the team’s 250th win, Cioni added: “It’s nice to add Strade Bianche to the team’s palmares. It’s a race we hadn’t won before and it’s regarded as one of the coolest races out there. It makes reaching the landmark even more special.”
The race had been blown apart on the sixth gravelled sector of road, when a group of 15 riders broke clear of the peloton. Kwiatkowski made the cut, as the peloton fractured behind.
World champion Peter Sagan also made the select group, but abandoned soon after due to illness, and the group began to slim down. The three minute gap to the day’s break quickly began to whittle down, and the forecast rain began to fall.
As the kilometres slipped by Kwiatkowski +looked stronger and stronger, covering off attacks and continually pushing the pace, splitting the group on more than one occasion as they caught and then passed the lead group.
The famous white roads didn’t phase the Pole as he pushed on, and took a win that will live long in the memory.
Complete Results:
167 starters, 89 classified finishers, 78 abandons.
175 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.141 km/hr
| 1 | Michal KWIATKOWSKI | Sky | 4hr 42min 42sec |
| 2 | Greg VAN AVERMAET | BMC | @ 15sec |
| 3 | Tim WELLENS | Lotto Soudal | @ 17sec |
| 4 | Zdenek ŠTYBAR | Quick-Step | @ 23sec |
| 5 | Tom DUMOULIN | Sunweb | @ 1min 26sec |
| 6 | Luke DURBRIDGE | Orica-Scott | s.t. |
| 7 | Christopher JUUL JENSEN | Orica-Scott | +1:29 |
| 8 | Tiesj BENOOT | Lotto Soudal | +2:20 |
| 9 | Thibaut PINOT | FDJ | +2:23 |
| 10 | Scott THWAITES | Dimension Data | +2:52 |
| 11 | José GONÇALVES | Katusha Alpecin | +3:10 |
| 12 | Quentin JAUREGUI | Ag2r La Mondiale | +4:05 |
| 13 | Fabio FELLINE | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 14 | Luis León SANCHEZ | Astana | +4:41 |
| 15 | Stefan KÜNG | BMC | +5:31 |
| 16 | Vegard Stake LAENGEN | UAE Abu Dhabi | +5:41 |
| 17 | Gianni MOSCON | Sky | +5:55 |
| 18 | Ondrej CINK | Bahrain-Merida | +6:22 |
| 19 | Edvald BOASSON HAGEN | Dimension Data | +8:15 |
| 20 | Truls KORSÆTH | Astana | s.t. |
| 21 | Matteo TRENTIN | Quick-Step | +8:41 |
| 22 | Oscar GATTO | Astana | +10:13 |
| 23 | Jan BAKELANTS | Ag2r La Mondiale | +10:15 |
| 24 | Floris DE TIER | Lotto NL-Jumbo | +10:16 |
| 25 | Giovanni VISCONTI | Bahrain-Merida | +10:20 |
| 26 | Brent BOOKWALTER | BMC | s.t. |
| 27 | Petr VAKOC | Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 28 | Sébastien REICHENBACH | FDJ | +10:21 |
| 29 | Andrey AMADOR | Movistar | +10:24 |
| 30 | ANDREY GRIVKO | Astana | +10:29 |
| 31 | Nathan HAAS | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 32 | Fabio ARU | Astana | +10:30 |
| 33 | Salvatore PUCCIO | Sky | s.t. |
| 34 | Julien VERMOTE | Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 35 | Primož ROGLIC | Lotto NL-Jumbo | +10:36 |
| 36 | MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN | Astana | +10:41 |
| 37 | Tao GEOGHEGAN HART | Sky | s.t. |
| 38 | Moreno MOSER | Astana | +10:44 |
| 39 | Nils POLITT | Katusha Alpecin | +10:49 |
| 40 | Jasper STUYVEN | Trek-Segafredo | +10:51 |
| 41 | Iuri FILOSI | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 42 | Hugo HOULE | Ag2r La Mondiale | +13:37 |
| 43 | Damiano CARUSO | BMC | s.t. |
| 44 | Vincenzo NIBALI | Bahrain-Merida | +13:38 |
| 45 | Maxime MONFORT | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 46 | Tomasz MARCZYNSKI | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 47 | Marco MARCATO | UAE Abu Dhabi | s.t. |
| 48 | Mike TEUNISSEN | Sunweb | s.t. |
| 49 | Georg PREIDLER | Sunweb | s.t. |
| 50 | Matteo MONTAGUTI | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 51 | Nans PETERS | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 52 | Enrico BATTAGLIN | Lotto NL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 53 | Marcus BURGHARDT | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 54 | Tiago MACHADO | Katusha Alpecin | +13:45 |
| 55 | Marco CANOLA | Nippo-Vini Fantini | +13:46 |
| 56 | Christoph PFINGSTEN | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 57 | Simon CLARKE | Cannondale Drapac | s.t. |
| 58 | Richard Antonio CARAPAZ | Movistar | s.t. |
| 59 | Michal GOLAS | Sky | +13:49 |
| 60 | Gregor MÜHLBERGER | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 61 | Jack HAIG | Orica-Scott | s.t. |
| 62 | Matthieu LADAGNOUS | FDJ | +13:51 |
| 63 | Antwan TOLHOEK | Lotto NL-Jumbo | +13:54 |
| 64 | Rigoberto URAN URAN | Cannondale Drapac | s.t. |
| 65 | Mattia FRAPPORTI | Androni Giocattoli | +13:56 |
| 66 | Daniel OSS | BMC | +14:01 |
| 67 | Jérémy ROY | FDJ | +14:08 |
| 68 | Sam BEWLEY | Orica-Scott | +14:23 |
| 69 | Simone ANDREETTA | Bardiani-CSF | +14:38 |
| 70 | Manuel QUINZIATO | BMC | +18:54 |
| 71 | Jay MCCARTHY | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 72 | Fausto MASNADA | Androni Giocattoli | +18:55 |
| 73 | Alex HOWES | Cannondale Drapac | s.t. |
| 74 | Ivan GARCIA CORTINA | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 75 | Toms SKUJINS | Cannondale Drapac | s.t. |
| 76 | Chad HAGA | Sunweb | s.t. |
| 77 | Paul MARTENS | Lotto NL-Jumbo | +19:00 |
| 78 | Simone VELASCO | Bardiani-CSF | +22:38 |
| 79 | Kiel REIJNEN | Trek-Segafredo | +22:52 |
| 80 | Matej MOHORIC | UAE Abu Dhabi | s.t. |
| 81 | David PER | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 82 | Ivan SANTAROMITA | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 83 | Diego ROSA | Sky | s.t. |
| 84 | Cesare BENEDETTI | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 85 | Markel IRIZAR ARANBURU | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 86 | Jorge ARCAS PEÑA | Movistar | s.t. |
| 87 | Ángel VICIOSO ARCOS | Katusha Alpecin | s.t. |
| 88 | Maxim BELKOV | Katusha Alpecin | s.t. |
| 89 | Raffaello BONUSI | Androni Giocattoli | s.t. |
Race map
Course profile
Here's the organizer's course description:
A twisty and undulating course, with no long climbs but with punchy hills, most significantly on the unpaved parts. There are roughly 62km of gravel roads, appearing in 11 sectors (eight of those shared with the Women Elite course). Starting from Siena (Stadium/Medicean Fortress area), the first undulating kilometres are on tarmac before reaching the 2.1km gravel Sector 1 at km 11, which is perfectly straight and always slightly uphill. After few kilometres the riders will face Sector 2 (4.7km), the course’s first real challenge with a short descent and a long climb with parts at over 10%. The course will then go through Radi, where Sector 3 starts (4.4km, second part of the original Sector 1 of the first editions) and immediately after Sector 4, one of its classic gravel sectors (5.5km, featured in the course since its first edition) with no significant gradient and leading to Buonconvento.
After few kilometres the second climb of the day starts: the Montalcino (4km at 5%). After Torrenieri the riders will face Sectors 5 (11.9km) and 6 (8km) with only 1km of tarmac in between them. Both are hard, hilly, very punchy and with many bends, climbs and descents. After the second passage through Buonconvento the feed station will be positioned in the area of Ponte d’Arbia. Soon the route reaches Monteroni d’Arbia, which marks the beginning of Sector 7 of San Martino in Grania (9.5km) in the middle of the Crete Senesi. It's a long sector with continuous up and downs in the first part, ending up with a twisting climb before meeting the tarmac again. In Ponte del Garbo (Asciano) gravel Sector 8 begins. At 11.5km it's the hardest of the race, mostly uphill and characterised by tough hills, the most important being those close to Monte Sante Marie, which face steep gradients on both climbs and descents over short distances.
After Castelnuovo Berardenga there's a very short, flat section of gravel (300m), before facing, after Monteaperti, Sector 9 which is only 800m long, but with a double digit gradient ramp before rejoining the tarmac in Vico d’Arbia and going to paved road through Pieve a Bozzone. Next comes the penultimate sector (Sector 10, 2.4km) on the climb toward Colle Pinzuto (with gradients up to 15%). After a few kilometres the riders will face the last sector (Sector 11, 1.1km) which features a sequence of a demanding descent followed by a very punchy climb (max 18%) that ends up at the Tolfe. From here only 12km separate the riders from the finish in Piazza del Campo, Siena.
Final Kilometres:
The demanding final kilometres, with gradients up to 16%, approach the city of Siena along broad, straight sections of road, connected by sweeping curves, first descending, and then climbing slightly. 2km from the finish line, the route joins Via Esterna di Fontebranda, where the gradient touches 9%. 900m from the finish line, the race route passes beneath Fontebranda Gate where the road surface becomes paving slabs. The gradient exceeds 10% until 500m from the finish line, reaching its highpoint of 16% in Via Santa Caterina.
A sharp right hand turn leads to Via delle Terme, and then Via Banchi di Sotto. With 300m to go, the road continues to climb slightly then, 150m from the line, a right turn leads into Via Rinaldini. The route enters the Piazza del Campo just 70m from the finish line. The final 30m descends at a gradient of 7% and the finish line itself is flat.
2017 Strade Bianche photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:
Team BMC is presented before the race start
The peloton is strung out
It was a wet, grey day in Tuscany
A few riders attack
Mattia Frapporti tries his luck
Tom Dumoulin hammering away on Monte Sante Marie
Michal Kwiatkowski wins his second Strade Bianche
Greg van Avermaet finishes second with Tim Wellens just behind him for third.
Start list with back numbers, March 3, 2017:
| ALM | AG2R LA MONDIALE |
| 1 | BAKELANTS Jan |
| 2 | CHEVRIER Clement |
| 3 | DUPONT Hubert |
| 4 | GENIEZ Alexandre |
| 5 | HOULE Hugo |
| 6 | JAUREGUI Quentin |
| 7 | MONTAGUTI Matteo |
| 8 | PETERS Nans |
| D.S. | KASPUTIS Arturas |
| ANS | ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI |
| 11 | BENFATTO Marco |
| 12 | BONUSI Raffaello |
| 13 | FRAPPORTI Mattia |
| 14 | MASNADA Fausto |
| 15 | PACIONI Luca |
| 16 | PALINI Andrea |
| 17 | SPREAFICO Matteo |
| 18 | VENDRAME Andrea |
| D.S. | SAVIO Gianni |
| AST | ASTANA PRO TEAM |
| 21 | ARU Fabio |
| 22 | CHERNETSKI Sergei |
| 23 | GATTO Oscar |
| 24 | GRIVKO Andrey |
| 25 | GRUZDEV Dmitriy |
| 26 | KOZHATAYEV Bakhtiyar |
| 27 | MOSER Moreno |
| 28 | STALNOV Nikita |
| D.S. | SHEFER Alexandr |
| TBM | BAHRAIN - MERIDA |
| 31 | NIBALI Vincenzo |
| 32 | BOARO Manuele |
| 33 | CINK Ondrej |
| 34 | GARCIA CORTINA Ivan |
| 35 | NOVAK Domen |
| 36 | PER David |
| 37 | SIUTSOU Kanstantsin |
| 38 | VISCONTI Giovanni |
| D.S. | VOLPI Alberto |
| BRD | BARDIANI CSF |
| 41 | BOEM Nicola |
| 42 | ANDREETTA Simone |
| 43 | MAESTRI Mirco |
| 44 | PACINOTTI Niccolo' |
| 45 | PIRAZZI Stefano |
| 46 | TONELLI Alessandro |
| 47 | VELASCO Simone |
| 48 | WACKERMANN Luca |
| D.S. | REVERBERI Roberto |
| BMC | BMC RACING TEAM |
| 51 | VAN AVERMAET Greg |
| 52 | BOOKWALTER Brent |
| 53 | CARUSO Damiano |
| 54 | DRUCKER Jean-Pierre |
| 55 | HERMANS Ben |
| 56 | KÜNG Stefan |
| 57 | OSS Daniel |
| 58 | QUINZIATO Manuel |
| D.S. | SCIANDRI Maximilian |
| BOH | BORA - HANSGROHE |
| 61 | SAGAN Peter |
| 62 | BENEDETTI Cesare |
| 63 | BODNAR Maciej |
| 64 | BURGHARDT Marcus |
| 65 | MCCARTHY Jay |
| 66 | MÜHLBERGER Gregor |
| 67 | PFINGSTEN Christoph |
| 68 | POLJANSKI Pawel |
| D.S. | POITSCHKE Enrico |
| CDT | CANNONDALE-DRAPAC |
| 71 | URAN Rigoberto |
| 72 | BETTIOL Alberto |
| 73 | CLARKE Simon |
| 74 | HOWES Alex |
| 75 | KOREN Kristijan |
| 76 | LANGEVELD Sebastian |
| 77 | SKUJINS Toms |
| 78 | VANMARCKE Sep |
| D.S. | GUIDI Fabrizio |
| FDJ | FDJ |
| 81 | PINOT Thibaut |
| 82 | BONNET William |
| 83 | LE BON Johan |
| 84 | LUDVIGSSON Tobias |
| 85 | MORABITO Steve |
| 86 | REICHENBACH Sébastien |
| 87 | ROUX Anthony |
| 88 | ROY Jérémy |
| D.S. | MADIOT Yvon |
| LTS | LOTTO SOUDAL |
| 91 | BENOOT Tiesj |
| 92 | DE BIE Sean |
| 93 | DE CLERCQ Bart |
| 94 | MAES Nikolas |
| 95 | MARCZYNSKI Tomasz |
| 96 | MONFORT Maxime |
| 97 | ROELANDTS Jurgen |
| 98 | WELLENS Tim |
| D.S. | AERTS Mario |
| MOV | MOVISTAR TEAM |
| 101 | AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA Andrey |
| 102 | BENNATI Daniele |
| 103 | BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos A. |
| 104 | BICO Nuno Miguel |
| 105 | CARAPAZ MONTENEGRO Richard |
| 106 | CARRETERO MILLAN Héctor |
| 107 | DOWSETT Alex |
| 108 | OLIVEIRA Nelson |
| D.S. | GARCIA Jose Vicente |
| NIP | NIPPO - VINI FANTINI |
| 111 | BAGIOLI Nicola |
| 112 | CANOLA Marco |
| 113 | FILOSI Iuri |
| 114 | GROSU Eduard Michael |
| 115 | KOISHI Yuma |
| 116 | MARANGONI Alan |
| 117 | SANTAROMITA Ivan |
| 118 | UCHIMA Kohei |
| D.S. | MANZONI Mario |
| ORS | ORICA - SCOTT |
| 121 | KREUZIGER Roman |
| 122 | BEWLEY Sam |
| 123 | DURBRIDGE Luke |
| 124 | EDMONDSON Alexander |
| 125 | HAIG Jack |
| 126 | JUUL JENSEN Christopher |
| 127 | KEUKELEIRE Jens |
| 128 | TUFT Svein |
| D.S. | STEPHENS Neil |
| QST | QUICK-STEP FLOORS |
| 131 | STYBAR Zdenek |
| 132 | BRAMBILLA Gianluca |
| 133 | JUNGELS Bob |
| 134 | MARTINELLI Davide |
| 135 | RICHEZE Maximiliano Ariel |
| 136 | TRENTIN Matteo |
| 137 | VAKOC Petr |
| 138 | VERMOTE Julien |
| D.S. | BRAMATI Davide |
| DDD | TEAM DIMENSION DATA |
| 141 | BOASSON HAGEN Edvald |
| 142 | ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor |
| 143 | DEBESAY Mekseb |
| 144 | EISEL Bernhard |
| 145 | TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel |
| 146 | THOMSON Jay Robert |
| 147 | THWAITES Scott |
| 148 | VAN ZYL Johann |
| D.S. | HAMMOND Roger |
| KAT | TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN |
| 151 | BELKOV Maxim |
| 152 | GONÇALVES José |
| 153 | MACHADO Tiago |
| 154 | MATHIS Marco |
| 155 | POLITT Nils |
| 156 | RESTREPO VALENCIA Jhonatan |
| 157 | SCHMIDT Mads Würtz |
| 158 | VICIOSO ARCOS Angel |
| D.S. | COZZI Claudio |
| TLJ | TEAM LOTTO NL - JUMBO |
| 161 | BATTAGLIN Enrico |
| 162 | LINDEMAN Bert-Jan |
| 163 | LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose |
| 164 | MARTENS Paul |
| 165 | ROGLIC Primoz |
| 166 | DE TIER Floris |
| 167 | TOLHOEK Antwan |
| 168 | VERMEULEN Alexey |
| D.S. | BOVEN Jan |
| SKY | TEAM SKY |
| 171 | ROSA Diego |
| 172 | BOSWELL Ian |
| 173 | GEOGHEGAN HART Tao |
| 174 | GOLAS Michal |
| 175 | KWIATKOWSKI Michal |
| 176 | MOSCON Gianni |
| 177 | PUCCIO Salvatore |
| 178 | THOMAS Geraint |
| D.S. | CIONI Dario |
| SUN | TEAM SUNWEB |
| 181 | DUMOULIN Tom |
| 182 | HAGA Chad |
| 183 | KELDERMAN Wilco |
| 184 | PREIDLER Georg |
| 185 | SINKELDAM Ramon |
| 186 | TEN DAM Laurens |
| 187 | TEUNISSEN Mike |
| 188 | TIMMER Albert |
| D.S. | REEF Marc |
| TFS | TREK - SEGAFREDO |
| 191 | ALAFACI Eugenio |
| 192 | BRÄNDLE Matthias |
| 193 | COLEDAN Marco |
| 194 | FELLINE Fabio |
| 195 | IRIZAR ARANBURU Markel |
| 196 | PEDERSEN Mads |
| 197 | REIJNEN Kiel |
| 198 | STUYVEN Jasper |
| D.S. | BAFFI Adriano |
| UAD | UAE ABU DHABI |
| 201 | FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto |
| 202 | DURASEK Kristijan |
| 203 | LAENGEN Vegard Stake |
| 204 | MARCATO Marco |
| 205 | MODOLO Sacha |
| 206 | MOHORIC Matej |
| 207 | NIEMIEC Przemyslaw |
| 208 | TROIA Oliviero |
| D.S. | MAINI Orlando |