Strade Bianche-Eroica Toscana (1.1), Italy

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The race:

The Montepaschi Strade Bianche (white roads) is a relatively new race that grew up out of an enthusiast ride that went over the white, unpaved roads in the Chianti area of Tuscany.

The desire by the promoter RCS Sport, which also organizes the Giro d'Italia, was to create a professional race with a distinctive and heroic character that will eventually take its place alongside the other springtime classics. The first edition was run in October of 2007. It is currently held in early March. In 2009 roughly a third of the route was on unpaved roads in 8 separate sectors, the longest of which was 13.5 kilometers. 190 km long, The race finishes in Siena's famous Piazza del Campo.

The race's original name was "Montepaschi Eroica", but it was later changed to "Strade Bianche"