2020 Strade Bianche Recap and Results

Belgian Wout Van Aert triumphed in the heat and dust of the Italian summer as WorldTour cycling returned after a five-month absence at  Strade Bianche.

The Jumbo-Visma rider, who had finished third in the previous two editions, attacked in the final 13km of the 184km race, crossing the line alone on Siena’s historic Piazza del Campo.

Italy’s Davide Formolo of UAE Emirates was 30 seconds behind with Germany’s Maximilian Schachmann, a further two seconds adrift in third, after nearly five hours in the saddle with temperatures hitting the high of 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

“It’s really nice to say after the first race back that my season is already a success,” said Van Aert.

“I didn’t want to waste any chances. I really focused on this race and it paid off.

“It was a very hard edition of Strade Bianche, especially at the beginning as it was quite difficult for me to ride in a peloton after a long time away from racing.”

“Over the last two editions of Strade Bianche, I gained a lot of confidence,” he continued.

“It’s never easy to win and it was harder than usual in today’s circumstances. It makes the win even better. This is proof that I’m at the highest level now.

“To have won Strade Bianche at the age of only 25, with a cyclocross background is a huge achievement.” Vincenzo Nibali crashed with Peter Sagan also among the many riders who failed to finish the gruelling race.

France’s Julian Alaphilippe, last year’s winner, also struggled with the Deceuninck-Quick-Step rider trailing home quarter of an hour behind the leaders.

Earlier in the day, Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten won the women’s race on the famous white dirt roads for the second year in a row.

The 37-year-old Mitchelton-Scott rider crossed 22 seconds ahead of Margarita Garcia Canellas of Ale BTC Ljubljana with the Spaniard having led for much of the 136km race through the rolling hills and white gravel roads of Tuscany.

“I thought my race was over after 90km,” said the Dutch rider.

“Then the speed of my group went up and I made my move during the second to last gravel sector, heading uphill.
“I couldn’t see anything because of the dust, it was quite different from the racing conditions in March but still beautiful and super hard.”

American Leah Thomas of Equipe Paule Ka was third at 1:53 in the race which had originally been scheduled for March 7 but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

MEN’S TOP TEN

1	VAN AERT Wout	Team Jumbo – Visma	4:58:56
2	FORMOLO Davide	UAE – Team Emirates	0:30
3	SCHACHMANN Maximilian	BORA – hansgrohe	0:32
4	BETTIOL Alberto	EF Pro Cycling	1:31
5	FUGLSANG Jakob	Astana Pro Team	2:55
6	ŠTYBAR Zdeněk	Deceuninck – Quick Step	3:59
7	BOOKWALTER Brent	Mitchelton – Scott	4:25
8	VAN AVERMAET Greg	CCC Team	4:27
9	GOGL Michael	NTT Pro Cycling	6:47
10	ROSA Diego	Team Arkéa Samsic	7:45

 

WOMEN’S TOP TEN

1	VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek	Mitchelton-Scott	4:03:54
2	GARCIA Mavi	Alé BTC Ljubljana	0:22
3	THOMAS Leah	Équipe Paule Ka	1:53
4	VAN DER BREGGEN Anna	Boels – Dolmans Cycling Team	2:05
5	LONGO BORGHINI Elisa	Trek – Segafredo Women	2:11
6	VOS Marianne	CCC – Liv	2:26
7	LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup	FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope	2:40
8	BRENNAUER Lisa	Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling	3:26
9	CANUEL Karol-Ann	Boels – Dolmans Cycling Team	4:20
10	BASTIANELLI Marta	Alé BTC Ljubljana	5:20

 

RBA/AFP PHOTOS: BETTINI