2018 Strade Bianche-Eroica Toscana (1.1), Italy
12th edition: Saturday, March 3, 2018
Montepaschi Strade Bianche historical results | 2017 edition | 2019 edition | Photos | Course map & profile | Start list | Organizer's course description
Siena - Siena, 184 km
11 sections of white roads, totalling 63 km
Tiejs Benoot takes a muddy solo victory
Weather in Siena at 1:15 PM, local time: Rain turning to thunderstorms at times and then showers around 3PM. 8C (46F) and could climb to 10C (49F). Wind from the east at 5 km/hr (4mph).
The race: The men’s edition of the ‘Northern Classic in the South of Europe’, now in its 12th edition, organised by RCS Sport/La Gazzetta dello Sport and part of the UCI WorldTour calendar, started today from Siena at 10:43 with 146 riders. Did not start: dossard number 167, Maarten Wynants (Team Lotto NL – Jumbo).
Here's the story from winner Tiesj Benoot's Lotto-Soudal team:
Tiesj Benoot has won Strade Bianche today after an impressive effort! It’s the first pro victory ever for the nearly 24-year-old Lotto Soudal rider! And what a victory it is! This twelfth edition of Strade Bianche (WorldTour) became an epic race because of the cold and the rain that made the gravel sectors very muddy.
The race started well for Lotto Soudal as European time trial champion Victor Campenaerts was part of a breakaway of eight riders. This front group got six minutes advantage over the bunch that split early on in the race. With sixty kilometres to go, Campenaerts and the other escapees got reeled in by a large chasing group including Tiesj Benoot. Next, about ten riders jumped away. Among those riders were Kwiatkowski, Van Aert and Valverde. A strong group, no doubt. After Campenaerts had pulled at the head of the chasing group to keep the gap as small as possible, Tiesj Benoot made the jump to the front on the eighth gravel sector, towards Monte Sante Marie.
Not long after that move, Romain Bardet and world champion cyclo-cross Wout Van Aert attacked at the front. They could create a gap of one minute. The pace in the chasing group slowed down and that was the sign for Tiesj Benoot to take initiative at thirty kilometres from the finish. He was accompanied by Pieter Serry. They reduced the gap to 35 seconds, but when the gap started growing again Benoot decided to leave Serry behind. Benoot closed the gap rather quickly and joined Bardet and Van Aert with fifteen kilometres remaining. Benoot attacked on the last gravel sector and entered the last ten kilometres solo. He kept on increasing his lead and could enjoy the last moments of the race before triumphing on Il Campo in Siena! Romain Bardet finished second, ahead of Wout Van Aert.
Earlier this week, Benoot had said he wanted to do better than his two eighth places in the previous two editions of Strade Bianche. Mission accomplished!
Tiesj Benoot: “After the break with Victor Campenaerts had been caught, Victor did a lot of pulling. When there was no cooperation in the group anymore, both sports director Bart Leysen and I thought it would be best to attack. That turned out to be the right decision. The same scenario got repeated when Bardet and Van Aert rode together at the front. I felt my legs were good and that I had to try something, because there was no team left that would close the gap. Serry was the perfect companion, he immediately helped chasing. I noticed that I was better than him though and that’s why I decided to leave him behind. I knew the part where I accelerated from the past two years and I knew that it would be possible to still close the gap. I succeeded in closing the gap pretty smoothly and then I realized I was the strongest at the front. I attacked on the last gravel sector and immediately had a nice lead. Then it was a matter of not crashing and having no flat tyre. When the team car rode behind me, I was less worried. I didn’t want to let my first pro victory slip through my fingers!”
“I had a super day. It was cold and it rained, but I never had problems with that kind of weather. The Strade Bianche is one of my favourite races and one of the races that suits me best. Only strong riders have won this race and it’s wonderful to see my name among them! The altitude training camp at Sierra Nevada clearly was the perfect preparation. If this first pro victory adds any pressure? The expectations have always been high since I got fifth at Ronde van Vlaanderen 2015 as a neo-pro. I can cope with that really well. I always kept believing in myself and I knew this victory would come one day.”
Complete Results:
147 entrants, 146 starters, 53 classified finishers, 73 abandons, 20 finished beyond the time limit.
184 kilometers raced at an average speed of 36.370 km/hr
| 1 | BENOOT Tiesj | Lotto-Soudal | 5hr 3min 33sec |
| 2 | BARDET Romain | Ag2r La Mondiale | @ 39sec |
| 3 | VAN AERT Wout | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | 0:58 |
| 4 | VALVERDE Alejandro | Movistar | @ 1min 25sec |
| 5 | VISCONTI Giovanni | Bahrain-Merida | 1:27 |
| 6 | POWER Robert | Mitchelton-Scott | 1:29 |
| 7 | STYBAR Zdenek | Quick-Step Floors | 1:42 |
| 8 | SAGAN Peter | Bora-hansgrohe | 2:08 |
| 9 | SERRY Pieter | Quick-Step Floors | 2:11 |
| 10 | MÜHLBERGER Gregor | Bora-hansgrohe | 2:16 |
| 11 | MOHORIC Matej | Bahrain-Merida | 3:05 |
| 12 | OSS Daniel | Bora-hansgrohe | 3:22 |
| 13 | DE TIER Floris | LottoNL-Jumbo | 4:03 |
| 14 | MOSCON Gianni | Sky | 4:08 |
| 15 | BURGHARDT Marcus | Bora-hansgrohe | 4:10 |
| 16 | KÜNG Stefan | BMC | 4:14 |
| 17 | CLARKE Simon | EF Education First-Drapac | 4:41 |
| 18 | AMADOR Andrey | Movistar | 4:55 |
| 19 | LATOUR Pierre | Ag2r La Mondiale | 5:12 |
| 20 | MADOUAS Valentin | Groupama-FDJ | 5:14 |
| 21 | DUMOULIN Tom | Team Sunweb | 6:14 |
| 22 | PUCCIO Salvatore | Sky | s.t. |
| 23 | ANDERSEN Soren Kragh | Team Sunweb | 7:56 |
| 24 | GRIVKO Andrei | Astana | 8:12 |
| 25 | VERMOTE Julien | Dimension Data | 8:26 |
| 26 | LUTSENKO Alexey | Astana | 8:55 |
| 27 | GONÇALVES José | Katusha-Alpecin | 9:46 |
| 28 | DEVOLDER Stijn | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | 10:11 |
| 29 | ROJAS José Joaquín | Movistar | s.t. |
| 30 | KWIATKOWSKI Michal | Sky | 10:57 |
| 31 | BATTAGLIN Enrico | LottoNL-Jumbo | 12:36 |
| 32 | CAPECCHI Eros | Quick-Step Floors | 12:39 |
| 33 | KEUKELEIRE Jens | Lotto-Soudal | 12:43 |
| 34 | VAN AVERMAET Greg | BMC | 13:05 |
| 35 | SCHAR Michael | BMC | s.t. |
| 36 | GILBERT Philippe | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 37 | KRUIJSWIJK Steven | LottoNL-Jumbo | 13:08 |
| 38 | VILLELLA Davide | Astana | 13:10 |
| 39 | BOLE Grega | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 40 | BENNETT George | LottoNL-Jumbo | 13:50 |
| 41 | VANMARCKE Sep | EF Education First-Drapac | 17:08 |
| 42 | MONTAGUTI Matteo | Ag2r La Mondiale | 18:31 |
| 43 | HOWES Alex | EF Education First-Drapac | 19:05 |
| 44 | ULISSI Diego | UAE-Team Emirates | 19:12 |
| 45 | PFINGSTEN Christoph | Bora-hansgrohe | 19:16 |
| 46 | OLIVEIRA Nelson | Movistar | 19:27 |
| 47 | MAES Nikolas | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 48 | ROGLIC Primoz | LottoNL-Jumbo | 19:33 |
| 49 | GAVIRIA Fernando | Quick-Step Floors | 19:36 |
| 50 | DOULL Owain | Sky | s.t. |
| 51 | CAMPENAERTS Victor | Lotto-Soudal | 21:36 |
| 52 | KEISSE Iljo | Quick-Step Floors | 21:45 |
| 53 | KUSS Sepp | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
The race begins
Looks like a lovely day for a bike ride in Tuscany. Photo: RCS Sport
It was a day that saw the riders earn their salaries. Bettini photo
Tiesj Benoot comes to the finish. Sirotti photo
Tiesj Benoot is the day's winner.
A tired Romain Bardet crosses the line second, 39 seconds after Benoot. Sirotti photo
Wout van Aert finishes third. Sirotti photo
World Champion Peter Sagan looks worse for the wear. Bettini photo
They cleaned up OK. The podium, from left: Romain Bardet (2nd), winner Tiesj Bennot and Wout van Aert (3rd)
Race map
Course profile
Start list with back numbers, March 2, 2018:
| TEAM SKY | |
| 1 | KWIATKOWSKI Michal |
| 2 | DOULL Owain |
| 3 | GEOGHEGAN HART Tao |
| 4 | GOLAS Michal |
| 5 | MOSCON Gianni |
| 6 | PUCCIO Salvatore |
| 7 | ROSA Diego |
| DS: PORTAL Nicolas | |
| AG2R LA MONDIALE | |
| 11 | BARDET Romain |
| 12 | DILLIER Silvan |
| 13 | DUPONT Hubert |
| 14 | GENIEZ Alexandre |
| 15 | JAUREGUI Quentin |
| 16 | LATOUR Pierre Roger |
| 17 | MONTAGUTI Matteo |
| DS: JANNEL Didier | |
| ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI - SIDERMEC | |
| 21 | BISOLTI Alessandro |
| 22 | BALLERINI Davide |
| 23 | BENFATTO Marco |
| 24 | BONUSI Raffaello |
| 25 | FRAPPORTI Mattia |
| 26 | MALUCELLI Matteo |
| 27 | SPREAFICO Matteo |
| DS: SAVIO Giovanni | |
| ASTANA PRO TEAM | |
| 31 | MOSER Moreno |
| 32 | CATALDO Dario |
| 33 | GATTO Oscar |
| 34 | GRIVKO Andrey |
| 35 | KORSÆTH Truls |
| 36 | LUTSENKO Alexey |
| 37 | VILLELLA Davide |
| DS: SHEFER Alexander | |
| BAHRAIN - MERIDA | |
| 41 | NIBALI Vincenzo |
| 42 | BOLE Grega |
| 43 | COLBRELLI Sonny |
| 44 | GASPAROTTO Enrico |
| 45 | KOREN Kristijan |
| 46 | MOHORIC Matej |
| 47 | VISCONTI Giovanni |
| DS: VOLPI Alberto | |
| BMC RACING TEAM | |
| 51 | VAN AVERMAET Greg |
| 52 | BETTIOL Alberto |
| 53 | BOOKWALTER Brent |
| 54 | CARUSO Damiano |
| 55 | KÜNG Stefan |
| 56 | SCHÄR Michael |
| 57 | VLIEGEN Loïc |
| DS: PIVA Valerio | |
| BORA - HANSGROHE | |
| 61 | SAGAN Peter |
| 62 | BODNAR Maciej |
| 63 | BURGHARDT Marcus |
| 64 | MÜHLBERGER Gregor |
| 65 | OSS Daniel |
| 66 | PFINGSTEN Christoph |
| 67 | SARAMOTINS Aleksejs |
| DS: VALACH Jan | |
| FDJ | |
| 71 | ARMIRAIL Bruno |
| 72 | MADOUAS Valentin |
| 73 | MOLARD Rudy |
| 74 | PREIDLER Georg |
| 75 | ROUX Anthony |
| 76 | ROY Jérémy |
| 77 | SEIGLE Romain |
| DS: PINEAU Frank | |
| LOTTO SOUDAL | |
| 81 | BENOOT Tiesj |
| 82 | CAMPENAERTS Victor |
| 83 | DEBUSSCHERE Jens |
| 84 | KEUKELEIRE Jens |
| 85 | MAZEAU Nicolas |
| 86 | MARCZYNSKI Tomasz |
| 87 | VAN DER SANDE Tosh |
| DS: AERTS Mario | |
| MITCHELTON - SCOTT | |
| 91 | DURBRIDGE Luke |
| 92 | TUFT Svein |
| 93 | HEPBURN Michael |
| 94 | HAIG Jack |
| 95 | JUUL JENSEN Christopher |
| 96 | BEWLEY Sam |
| 97 | HAMILTON Lucas |
| DS: WHITE Matthew | |
| MOVISTAR TEAM | |
| 101 | AMADOR Andrey |
| 102 | ARCAS Jorge |
| 103 | BARBERO Carlos |
| 104 | BENNATI Daniele |
| 105 | BETANCUR Carlos |
| 106 | MATOS Nuno |
| 107 | ROJAS José |
| DS: JAIMERENA Jose Luis | |
| NIPPO - VINI FANTINI - EUROPA | |
| 111 | CANOLA Marco |
| 112 | BAGIOLI Nicola |
| 113 | CIMA Damiano |
| 114 | GROSU Eduard Micheal |
| 115 | HATSUYAMA Sho |
| 116 | PONZI Simone |
| 117 | TIZZA Marco |
| DS: MANZONI Mario | |
| QUICK-STEP FLOORS | |
| 121 | GILBERT Philippe |
| 122 | CAPECCHI Eros |
| 123 | GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando |
| 124 | RICHEZE Maximiliano Ariel |
| 125 | SCHACHMANN Maximilian |
| 126 | SERRY Pieter |
| 127 | STYBAR Zdenek |
| DS: BRAMATI Davide | |
| TEAM DIMENSION DATA | |
| 131 | BOASSON HAGEN Edvald |
| 132 | O'CONNOR Ben |
| 133 | DOUGALL Nicolas |
| 134 | EISEL Bernhard |
| 135 | THWAITES Scott |
| 136 | VAN ZYL Johann |
| 137 | VERMOTE Julien |
| DS: SANS VEGA Alexandre | |
| TEAM EF EDUCATION FIRST | |
| 141 | VANMARCKE Sep |
| 142 | CARDONA TABARES Julian |
| 143 | CLARKE Simon |
| 144 | HOWES Alex |
| 145 | MORENO Daniel |
| 146 | PHINNEY Taylor |
| 147 | VAN ASBROECK Tom |
| DS: GUIDI Fabrizio | |
| TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN | |
| 151 | BELKOV Maxim |
| 152 | CRAS Steff |
| 153 | HAAS Nathan |
| 154 | GONÇALVES José |
| 155 | KUZNETSOV Viacheslav |
| 156 | SMIT Willem Jakobus |
| 157 | SCHMIDT Mads Würtz |
| DS: COZZI Claudio | |
| TEAM LOTTO NL - JUMBO | |
| 161 | KRUIJSWIJK Steven |
| 162 | BATTAGLIN Enrico |
| 163 | BENNETT George |
| 164 | DE TIER Floris |
| 165 | ROGLIC Primoz |
| 166 | TANKINK Bram |
| 167 | WYNANTS Maarten |
| DS: BOVEN Jan | |
| TEAM SUNWEB | |
| 171 | DUMOULIN Tom |
| 172 | ANDERSEN Søren Kragh |
| 173 | ARNDT Nikias |
| 174 | GESCHKE Simon |
| 175 | KÄMNA Lennard |
| 176 | MATTHEWS Michael |
| 177 | TEN DAM Laurens |
| DS: REEF Marc | |
| TREK - SEGAFREDO | |
| 181 | BRAMBILLA Gianluca |
| 182 | ALAFACI Eugenio |
| 183 | FELLINE Fabio |
| 184 | GOGL Michael |
| 185 | PEDERSEN Mads |
| 186 | STUYVEN Jasper |
| 187 | VAN POPPEL Boy |
| DS: BAFFI Adriano | |
| UAE TEAM EMIRATES | |
| 191 | ULISSI Diego |
| 192 | CONTI Valerio |
| 193 | MARCATO Marco |
| 194 | MORI Manuele |
| 195 | NIEMIEC Przemyslaw |
| 196 | POLANC Jan |
| 197 | RIABUSHENKO Aleksandr |
| DS: SCIREA Mario | |
| VERANDAS WILLEMS - CRELAN | |
| 201 | VAN AERT Wout |
| 202 | DE BIE Sean |
| 203 | DEVOLDER Stijn |
| 204 | DE WITTE Mathias |
| 205 | DUIJN Hubertus Martinus |
| 206 | MERLIER Tim |
| 207 | TANNER David |
| DS: ELIJZEN Michiel |
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 63km 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 downhill.
After few kilometres the riders will face Sector 2 (5.8km), 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 named "La Piana", 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.