2016 Strade Bianche-Eroica Toscana (1.1), Italy

10th edition: Saturday, March 5, 2016

Montepaschi Strade Bianche historical results | 2015 edition | 2017 edition | Course map and profile | Photos | Start list

Siena - Siena, 176 km

Fabian Cancellara wins the 2016 Strade Bianche

The Race: here's the organizer's explanation:

The Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara (Trek – Segafredo) has won the 10th edition of Strade Bianche NamedSport, 176km from Siena (Fortezza Medicea) to Siena (Piazza del Campo). At the finish line, in the shadows of the Mangia Tower, he beat Zdenek Stybar and Gianluca Brambilla (both Etixx – Quick Step).

With this victory Cancellara writes his name forever in the history of the race – the sixth gravel sector will now be named after him.

Speaking seconds after the finish, Fabian Cancellara said: “This day is special. I had to play my best cards. I’m speechless. I knew that I couldn’t let Brambilla get too far ahead, despite Etixx-Quick Step outnumbering me. I used my experience and confidence to leave it to the very end. It’s because I know myself very well. To win it for the third time means that I have made history as I’ll now have my name on a gravel road. I put my mark in Siena forever. It makes me happy.”

And this is the stage story from winner Fabian Cancellara's Trek-Segafredo team:

In a show that his final professional season will be one for the history books, Fabian Cancellara claimed his third victory in Strade Bianche Saturday, crossing the line just ahead of last year's winner Zdenek Stybar (Etixx Quick Step).

"This year I really want to go out with a bang," said Cancellara. "I want to thank all my teammates for supporting me today, and all these years. This is just amazing. I am happy as a kid! I knew that Stybar is a cyclocross guy, so I had to be careful for him. He won last year as well, and he is very good at this last climb. I am very, very happy. Third time, and now they will name a white gravel section after me - sector 6 - I am honored."

Etixx-Quick Step teammate Brambilla rolled across the line for the final podium spot after riding out front in the break for most of the race and trying his best to thwart the stronger legs of Cancellara and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) with a few attacks in the final eight kilometers.

Brambilla opened a dangerous gap with six kilometers to go, but the calm experience of Cancellara, and with reassurance from the team car, he laid his last cards flawlessly.

"For sure the car gave me the last confidence for the win," explained Cancellara about the tactical battle in the closing kilometers. "They helped me play with the tactics of the Etixx guys. They told me also to let Sagan work [in the chase] and that we don't give too many seconds to Brambilla. He was already in the front all day, so I could catch him in the last climb, and we can play there. Everything went perfectly well.

"I made the pace on the final climb because I knew that Sagan would not do it because I saw him already in a little bit of difficulty. I knew that it was probably going to be Stybar and me, so I had to play like this.

"This is special. I had to play at the end; it was a lottery and I knew I had to risk. I had trust in myself; it was experience. I knew that Etixx was going to play the team game, and I just had to make sure that Brambilla did not take too much time."

It was Peter Sagan's attack on the final gravel sector that blew the race apart, separating the three strongest from the rest of the contenders.  Sagan, Stybar, and Cancellara quickly caught Brambilla, the sole survivor of the day's five-man breakaway, and this quartet would survive to the end. 

When Brambilla began to launch attacks, the tactical game favored Etixx- Quick Step. But Cancellara remained poised under Etixx's pressure, although admitted it wasn't until he was meters from the line that he knew he had the win.

"The most decisive moment was when Peter made the acceleration, and I managed to jump up to him and Stybar," continued Cancellara. "It wasn't a big collaboration between us because we are all big riders, plus Etixx had a team game to play. I think my work in the last 5 kilometers was risky, but it was the only way.

"I knew I had it at the line, not earlier. Stybar is great here, and I had to pay attention. And Peter also. Anything can happen. It all worked out, and I am proud."

"Next year I will not be here, but there will be my name. I already had a bridge in Ittigen where I live named for me, and now this. It's a big honor."

Long before Sagan's attack split the race for good, the Trek-Segafredo team put in a mountain of work, minimizing the gap to the five-man breakaway and softening up the peloton ahead of the critical gravel sector six, the longest and hardest and rated five stars.

Earlier, Jasper Stuyven punctured and Markel Irizar sacrificed a wheel so the young Belgian could continue. Stuyven was in the decimated peloton that numbered less than 30 riders when the race entered its final stages, and helped neutralize the chasing group after Cancellara had moved ahead in the final kilometers.

Cancellara cemented his place in the white gravel road's history and it was a huge win. But it takes a team.

Complete Results:

Photos

176 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.770 km/hr

1	Fabian Cancellara	Trek-Segafredo	4hr 39min 35sec
2	Zdenek Stybar	Etixx-Quick Step	s.t.
3	Gianluca Brambilla	Etixx-Quick Step	+4sec
4	Peter Sagan	Tinkoff	+13''
5	Petr Vakoc	Etixx-Quick Step	+34''
6	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC	+37''
7	Diego Ulissi	Lampre-Merida	+41''
8	Tiesj Benoot	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
9	Lars Petter Nordhaug	Sky	+41''
10	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar	+50''
11	Jakob Fuglsang	Astana	+52''
12	Brent Bookwalter	BMC	+1' 53''
13	Jay McCarthy	Tinkoff	+2' 02''
14	Daniel Oss	BMC	+2' 02''
15	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana	s.t.
16	Giovanni Visconti	Movistar	+2' 22''
17	Bob Jungels	Etixx-Quick Step	+2' 24''
18	Gianni Moscon	Sky	+2' 25''
19	Matteo Trentin	Etixx-Quick Step	s.t.
20	Michal Kwiatkowski	Sky	s.t.
21	Andriy Grivko	Astana	+2' 26''
22	Robert Gesink	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
23	Grega Bole	Nippo-Vini Fantini	+2' 41''
24	Davide Rebellin	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+5' 15''
25	Tomasz Marczynski	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
26	Jasper Stuyven	Trek-Segafredo	+5' 18''
27	Julien Vermote	Etixx-Quick Step	s.t.
28	Bart De Clercq	Lotto-Soudal	+5' 25''
29	Jan Bakelants	Ag2r	+5' 27''
30	Matteo Busato	Southeast-Venezuela	+5' 30''
31	Luke Durbridge	Orica-GreenEdge	s.t.
32	Sonny Colbrelli	Bardiani CSF	+5' 35''
33	Sébastien Turgot	Ag2r	+5' 37''
34	Manuele Boaro	Tinkoff	+5' 45''
35	Jens Keukeleire	Orica-GreenEdge	+5' 48''
36	Gatis Smukulis	Astana	+7' 55''
37	Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev	Astana	s.t.
38	Maxime Monfort	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
39	Davide Viganò	Androni Giocattoli	s.t.
40	Michal Golas	Sky	s.t.
41	Simone Ponzi	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+8' 01''
42	Andrey Amador	Movistar	+12' 18''
43	Salvatore Puccio	Sky	+12' 58''
44	Maciej Bodnar	Tinkoff	+13' 00''
45	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto-Soudal	+13' 01''
46	Alessandro De Marchi	BMC	+13' 01''
47	Damiano Caruso	BMC	+16' 02''
48	Pim Ligthart	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
49	Bert-Jan Lindeman	LottoNL-Jumbo	+16' 04''
50	Dáyer Quintana	Movistar	s.t.
51	Sébastien Minard	Ag2r	s.t.
52	Jempy Drücker	BMC	s.t.
53	Eduard-Michael Grosu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
54	Daniele Bennati	Tinkoff	s.t.
55	Jasha Sütterlin	Movistar	+19' 43''
56	Hugo Houle	Ag2r	+21' 20''
57	Timo Roosen	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
58	Guillaume Bonnafond	Ag2r	s.t.
59	Kiel Reijnen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
60	Jack Haig	Orica-GreenEdge	s.t.
61	Marcin Mrozek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+21' 23''
62	Jesse Sergent	Ag2r	s.t.
63	Filippo Pozzato	Southeast-Venezuela	+24' 15''
64	Przemyslaw Niemiec	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
65	Charles Planet	Novo Nordisk	s.t.
66	Mirko Selvaggi	Androni Giocattoli	s.t.
67	Tiziano Dall'Antonia	Androni Giocattoli	s.t.
68	Federico Zurlo	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
69	Martijn Verschoor	Novo Nordisk	s.t.
70	Eros Capecchi	Astana	s.t.
71	Tom Van Asbroeck	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
72	Mike Teunissen	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
73	Daniel Martínez	Southeast-Venezuela	s.t.
74	Primož Roglic	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
75	Lukasz Owsian	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
76	Taylor Phinney	BMC	s.t.
77	Tony Martin	Etixx-Quick Step	s.t.
78	Christian Knees	Sky	s.t.
79	Marco Bandiera	Androni Giocattoli	s.t.
80	Marco Frapporti	Androni Giocattoli	s.t.
81	Oscar Gatto	Tinkoff	s.t.
82	Alessandro Tonelli	Bardiani CSF	+30' 37''
83	Giorgio Cecchinel	Androni Giocattoli	s.t.
84	Marco Coledan	Trek-Segafredo	+30' 40''
85	Eugert Zhupa	Southeast-Venezuela	+31' 43''
	Yves Lampaert	Etixx-Quick Step	DNF
	Hubert Dupont	Ag2r	DNF
	Matteo Montaguti	Ag2r	DNF
	Daniele Ratto	Androni Giocattoli	DNF
	Serghei Tvetcov	Androni Giocattoli	DNF
	Valerio Agnoli	Astana	DNF
	Michele Scarponi	Astana	DNF
	Simone Andreetta	Bardiani CSF	DNF
	Enrico Barbin	Bardiani CSF	DNF
	Nicola Boem	Bardiani CSF	DNF
	Stefano Pirazzi	Bardiani CSF	DNF
	Lorenzo Rota	Bardiani CSF	DNF
	Luca Sterbini	Bardiani CSF	DNF
	Manuel Quinziato	BMC	DNF
	Víctor De la Parte	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	DNF
	Felix Großschartner	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	DNF
	Nikolay Mihaylov	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	DNF
	Maciej Paterski	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	DNF
	Mattia Cattaneo	Lampre-Merida	DNF
	Roberto Ferrari	Lampre-Merida	DNF
	Sacha Modolo	Lampre-Merida	DNF
	Manuele Mori	Lampre-Merida	DNF
	Gang Xu	Lampre-Merida	DNF
	Jens Debusschere	Lotto-Soudal	DNF
	Rafael Valls	Lotto-Soudal	DNF
	Jorge Arcas	Movistar	DNF
	Marc Soler	Movistar	DNF
	Francisco Ventoso	Movistar	DNF
	Alessandro Bisolti	Nippo-Vini Fantini	DNF
	Damiano Cunego	Nippo-Vini Fantini	DNF
	Pierpaolo De Negri	Nippo-Vini Fantini	DNF
	Iuri Filosi	Nippo-Vini Fantini	DNF
	Antonio Nibali	Nippo-Vini Fantini	DNF
	Riccardo Stacchiotti	Nippo-Vini Fantini	DNF
	Alexander Edmondson	Orica-GreenEdge	DNF
	Damien Howson	Orica-GreenEdge	DNF
	Christopher Juul-Jensen	Orica-GreenEdge	DNF
	Christian Meier	Orica-GreenEdge	DNF
	Manuel Belletti	Southeast-Venezuela	DNF
	Enrique Sanz	Southeast-Venezuela	DNF
	Mirko Tedeschi	Southeast-Venezuela	DNF
	Mirko Trosino	Southeast-Venezuela	DNF
	Enrico Battaglin	LottoNL-Jumbo	DNF
	Tom Leezer	LottoNL-Jumbo	DNF
	Kevin Demesmaeker	Novo Nordisk	DNF
	Joonas Henttala	Novo Nordisk	DNF
	Brian Kamstra	Novo Nordisk	DNF
	David Lozano	Novo Nordisk	DNF
	Javier Megías	Novo Nordisk	DNF
	Stephen Clancy	Novo Nordisk	DNF
	Andrew Fenn	Sky	DNF
	Peter Kennaugh	Sky	DNF
	Adam Blythe	Tinkoff	DNF
	Nikolai Trussov	Tinkoff	DNF
	Stijn Devolder	Trek-Segafredo	DNF
	Markel Irizar	Trek-Segafredo	DNF
	Julien Bernard	Trek-Segafredo	DNF
	Yaroslav Popovych	Trek-Segafredo	DNF

Course map and profile:

Course map

Race profile

Race photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Androni Giocattoli is presented during the opening ceremonies

The BMC rider should be Damiano Caruso

On the Lucignano d'Asso sector

Still on the Lucignano d'Asso road

A break profiled on a Lucignano d'Asso road

The pack raises dust in Lucignano d'Asso

This is Pieve a Salti

Pieve a Salti panorama

San Martino in Grania

San Martino in Grania

A few riders are away on the San Martino in Grania sector

It's a dusty business racing on the Strade Bianche

Fabian Cancellara gets to the finish line first

Cancellara notes that this is his third win here

Gianluca Brambilla finishes third

Peter Sagan fnishes fourth

And Petr Vakoc was fifth

A good day for Fabian Cancellara

The podium, Stybar, Cancellara and Brambilla

Start list, March 4, 2016:

	ETIXX - QUICK-STEP
N°	NAME
1	STYBAR Zdenek
2	BRAMBILLA Gianluca
3	JUNGELS Bob
4	LAMPAERT Yves
5	MARTIN Tony
6	TRENTIN Matteo
7	VAKOC Petr
8	VERMOTE Julien
D.S.	BRAMATI Davide
	AG2R LA MONDIALE
N°	NAME
11	BAKELANDTS Jan
12	BONNAFOND Guillaume
13	DUPONT Hubert
14	HOULE Hugo
15	MINARD Sébastien
16	MONTAGUTI Matteo
17	SERGENT Jesse
18	TURGOT Sébastien
D.S.	KASPUTIS Arturas
	ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI - SIDERMEC
N°	NAME
21	BANDIERA Marco
22	CECCHINEL Giorgio
23	DALL'ANTONIA Tiziano
24	FRAPPORTI Marco
25	RATTO Daniele
26	SELVAGGI Mirko
27	TVETCOV Serghei
28	VIGANO Davide
D.S.	ELLENA Giovanni
	ASTANA PRO TEAM
N°	NAME
31	NIBALI Vincenzo
32	AGNOLI Valerio
33	CAPECCHI Eros
34	FUGLSANG Jakob
35	GRIVKO Andriy
36	KOZHATAYEV Bakhtiyar
37	SCARPONI Michele
38	SMUKULIS Gatis
D.S.	SHEFER Alexandr
	BARDIANI CSF
N°	NAME
41	COLBRELLI Sonny
42	ANDREETTA Simone
43	BARBIN Enrico
44	BOEM Nicola
45	PIRAZZI Stefano
46	ROTA Lorenzo
47	STERBINI Luca
48	TONELLI Alessandro
D.S.	REVERBERI Roberto

	BMC RACING TEAM
N°	NAME
51	VAN AVERMAET Greg
52	BOOKWALTER Brent
53	CARUSO Damiano
54	DE MARCHI Alessandro
55	DRUCKER Jean Pierre
56	OSS Daniel
57	PHINNEY Taylor
58	QUINZIATO Manuel
D.S.	SCIANDRI Maximilian
	CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE
N°	NAME
61	REBELLIN Davide
62	DE LA PARTE Victor
63	GROSSHARTNER Felix
64	MIHAYLOV Nikolay
65	MROZEK Marcin
66	OWSIAN Lukasz
67	PATERSKI Maciej
68	PONZI Simone
D.S.	WADECKI Piotr
	LAMPRE - MERIDA
N°	NAME
71	ULISSI Diego
72	CATTANEO Mattia
73	FERRARI Roberto
74	MODOLO Sacha
75	MORI Manuele
76	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw
77	XU Gang
78	ZURLO Federico
D.S.	MAINI Orlando
	LOTTO SOUDAL
N°	NAME
81	BENOOT Tiesj
82	DEBUSSCHERE Jens
83	DE CLERCQ Bart
84	LIGTHART Pim
85	MARCZYNSKI Tomasz
86	MONFORT Maxime
87	ROELANDTS Jurgen
88	VALLS FERRI Rafael
D.S.	LEYSEN Bart
	MOVISTAR TEAM
N°	NAME
91	VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
92	AMADOR BAKKAZAKOVA Andrey
93	ARCAS PENA Jorge
94	QUINTANA ROJAS Dayer Uberney
95	SOLER Marc
96	SÜTTERLIN Jasha
97	VENTOSO ALBERDI Francisco J.
98	VISCONTI Giovanni
D.S.	JAIMERENA Jose Luis

	NIPPO - VINI FANTINI
N°	NAME
101	BOLE Grega
102	BISOLTI Alessandro
103	CUNEGO Damiano
104	DE NEGRI Pier Paolo
105	FILOSI Iuri
106	GROSU Eduard Michael
107	NIBALI Antonio
108	STACCHIOTTI Riccardo
D.S.	GIULIANI Stefano
	ORICA GREENEDGE
N°	NAME
111	DURBRIDGE Luke
112	EDMONDSON Alexander
113	HAIG Jack
114	HOWSON Damien
115	JUUL JENSEN Christopher
116	KEUKELEIRE Jens
117	MEIER Christian
118	YATES Adam
D.S.	STEPHENS Neil
	SOUTHEAST - VENEZUELA
N°	NAME
121	BELLETTI Manuel
122	BUSATO Matteo
123	MARTINEZ Daniel
124	POZZATO Filippo
125	SANZ Enrique
126	TEDESCHI Mirko
127	TROSINO Mirko
128	ZHUPA Eugert
D.S.	SCINTO Luca
	TEAM LOTTO NL - JUMBO
N°	NAME
131	GESINK Robert
132	BATTAGLIN Enrico
133	LEEZER Thomas
134	LINDEMAN Bertjan
135	ROGLIC Primoz
136	ROOSEN Timo
137	TEUNISSEN Mike
138	VAN ASBROECK Tom
D.S.	BOVEN Jan

	TEAM NOVO NORDISK
N°	NAME
141	DE MESMAEKER Kevin
142	HENTTALA Joonas
143	KAMSTRA Brian
144	LOZANO RIBA David
145	MEGIAS LEAL Javier
146	CLANCY Stephen
147	PLANET Charles
148	VERSCHOOR Martijn
D.S.	PODENZANA Massimo
	TEAM SKY
N°	NAME
151	FENN Andrew
152	GOLAS Michal
153	KENNAUGH Peter
154	KNEES Christian
155	NORDHAUG Lars Petter
156	KWIATKOWSKI Michal
157	PUCCIO Salvatore
158	MOSCON Gianni
D.S.	CIONI Dario
	TINKOFF
N°	NAME
161	SAGAN Peter
162	BENNATI Daniele
163	BLYTHE Adam
164	BOARO Manuele
165	BODNAR Maciej
166	GATTO Oscar
167	MCCARTHY Jay
168	TRUSOV Nikolay
D.S.	CENGHIALTA Bruno
	TREK - SEGAFREDO
N°	NAME
171	CANCELLARA Fabian
172	COLEDAN Marco
173	DEVOLDER Stijn
174	IRIZAR ARANBURU Markel
175	BERNARD Julien
176	POPOVYCH Yaroslav
177	REIJNEN Kiel
178	STUYVEN Jasper
D.S.	BAFFI Adriano