Saturday, March 7, 2015

2015 Strade-Bianche Race Report and Results





STRADE BIANCHE 2015 [1.HC]
March 7, 2015

The eponymous white dirt/gravel roads of Strade Bianche


200 kms. 11 ranked, dirt sections of varying length and difficulty; finish in Siena.

Dirt road sectors and finish climb for Strade Bianche:
Km / To Go            Climb            Length                  Grade          Max Grade
32 / 168            1  San Leonardo       2.2 km                                               
48 / 152            2  Vidritta                 2.1 km                                               
55 / 145            3  Bagnaia                5.9 km                                               
67 / 133            4  Radi                      4.4 km                                               
78 / 122            5  Str. Com. di Murlo          5.5 km                                               
120 / 80            6  Lucignano d'Asso           9.5 km                                               
147 / 53            7  Monte Sante Marie       11.5 km                                               
175 / 25            8  Monteaperti             0.8 km                                               
181 / 19            9  Colle Pinzuto          2.4 km                                               
187 / 13            10 Le Tolfe                  1.1 km            18 %                       
199 / 1            Siena                              0.6 km            9.2 %            16 %                       


2015 STRADE BIANCHE

The 2015 race profile


Race report:

[When the race broadcast came online, a four-man break was leading the race.
Arredondo (TFR), Ovechkin (RUS), Colli (NIP), and Fonzi (SOU) had a gap of 1:23 over the chasing peloton, with 65k left to ride.]

The race route on the map
Here's what happened earlier (paraphrasing some from a translation from the official race website):

…Lively pace now, at km3 Pirazzi (BAR), Berlato (NIP) and Arredondo (TFR) attack; they are shortly after joined by Koshevoy (LAM), Colli (NIP), Ovechkin (RVL), Fonzi (SOU) and Lozano (TNN).
At km 11, the eight escapees have a 1'05 gap, ahead of the peloton led by the Movistar men. At km 13 the advantage is 1:47.
At km 19,  5'10, with the group still led by Movistar.
At km 29, the advantage of the eight escapees still grows, and reaches 6'30.
At km 38, 7'18.
Average after an hour of racing: 44.500 km / h

At km 60, the gap is 6'38.
Ruffoni (BAR) retires.
At km 73, the gap is 6'05.
At km 75, 5'40.

Average after two hours Racing: 39.950 km / h.
At km 87, the advantage of the eight escapees drops to 4'26.
At 100 km, 4'15.  HALFWAY Point.
At 105 km, with the peloton still led by Movistar, 3'56.
 The withdrawal of Bongiorno (BAR) should be noted.
At 107 km, 3'43; leading the group are Androni riders.

Average after three hours of racing: 37.650 km / h.
At km 115, 3'55.
At km 120 (beginning of the sixth sector of dirt road), Movistar leads the peloton again, at +2'33 to the break, which now includes Lozano
Piarzzi crashes out.
Gerrans (OGE) abandons. It was his first race of the year, otherwise he would have been a favorite today.
-75 Km: Boom (AST), Rosa (AST) and Sütterlin (MOV) attack from the peloton.
Colli, Ovechkin, Fonzi and Arredondo, lead, A group of nine riders chase the four remaining escapees: Boom and Rosa (AST), Stybar (EQS), Valverde and Sütterlin (MOV), Sagan and Bodnar (TCS), Lozano (TNN), and Berlato (NIP).

-70k: At km 130, the group in pursuit of the four escapees is back together, although very stretched out.
At 134 km, the gap is 1'23.

[Now the broadcasts came online, and my own report commences...]

65k to go: 4 remaining escapees lead the race now: Arredondo (TFR), Ovechkin (RUS), Colli (NIP), and Fonzi (SOU). Their gap is dropping fast.
The early rollout
At -63k the gap is 1:00.
At km 138 (-62k),  the gap is :43.

-56k: km144: The 4 escapees have :44 on the peloton.

-55k: Ovechkin is picked up by the peloton; three leaders in front now.
Onto sector #7, the longest dirt section, the Monte Sante Marie, at 11.5k.
At km 148, the peloton is stretched out in a long single file.
The race sees a flurry of activity as the unpaved path claims tired victims and rewards the intrepid.

Avg speed after four hours of racing: 37.400 km / h.
The erstwhile lead group disintegrates.

Arredondo is going backwards through the peloton; Ovechkin has been spit out the back. Fonzi is fading.
-52k: Pablo Lastras (MOV) and Michael Hepburn (OGE) are seen struggling off the back of the peloton. The rest of the leaders are scooped up.


*-50k: At km 150, Peter Sagan (TCS) leads an escape group off the front, including, Diego Rosa (AST), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Zdenek Stybar (EQS), Alejandro Valverde (MOV), Magnus Cort Nielsen (OGE), Nathan Haas (TCG), Sep Vanmarcke (TLJ), and Fabian Cancellara (TFR) escape off the front, shortly after, they are joined by Daniel Oss (BMC); the peloton is at + :10. 
*-47k: Sagan, Stybar, and Valverde get a gap on the rest, to form the current three-man leading group.

At km155, Stybar, Valverde and Sagan remain in the lead, chased by a group of six at about +:20.
Inside 40k to go [At km 162]: After coming off of the long section 7, the 3 leaders are joined by the six chasers, Rosa, Van Avermaet, Oss, Haas, Vanmarcke and Cancellara; a first chase group of twenty-nine riders is at + 1'06.
-37k: The 9 leaders on the road have a gap of 1:14.
-35k: Passing through Siena, the gap to the peloton is 1:10.

The onscreen graphics continue to incorrectly list Nibali as being with the leaders, instead of Rosa.

*The nine leaders on the road are: Sagan, Stybar, Valverde, Rosa, Van Avermaet, Oss, Haas, Vanmarcke and Cancellara.
 

The road surface, close-up
 -30Km: the group of twenty-nine pursuers is at about + :100 from the nine escapees.
-28k: Vanmarcke accelerates uphill off the front, followed quickly by Oss and Haas, then Stybar, Sagan, Valverde, Van Avermaet...
the leaders then regroup;
-26k:  Oss attacks and gets a gap.
-25k: Oss leads by about :10-:15; the peloton is at :40-:45.

-23.8k: Onto 800m section #8, Monteaperti; Oss has :06 ahead of the eight, and :28 on the group. 
*-22.4k: Vanmarcke attacks the front chase group again, at about the same spot where Sagan made his move last year (2014).  Stybar and Valverde are first on the big Belgian's wheel;
-22k: Vanmarcke catches Oss.

Vanmarcke's sudden burst cracks Sagan, who is now going backwards. He must know his body doesn't have the goods today; he would know, since he was attacked at the same spot where he attacked last year.

Betancur and Stannard have abandoned.

-21k: Oss runs out of steam.
About 20k to go: Haas has been dropped from the lead group.
*The five leaders on the road now are: Vanmarcke, Cancellara, Valverde, Stybar, and Van Avermaet.

Onto sector #9...
19k: Sagan passes Oss on his way to try and bridge back up to the leaders.
Cancellara is struggling, and falls out of the lead group.
Four lead now: Van Avermaet, Stybar, Valverde, and Vanmarcke.

-18k: Oss and Cancellara drop Sagan, and chase at about +:15.
-17k: Valverde sets a furious pace in front.
Back in the peloton, Niemiec launches an attack.
Inside 15k to go, Oss, Cancellara and Rosa are closing on the lead group of four.

-14.6k: Van Avermaet attacks the lead group. They give him a long leash before Stybar accelerates in pursuit, with Valverde and Vanmarcke on his wheel.
Van Av has gone all-in with this move. He is going into all sorts of pain trying to stay away.
Behind, Oss, Rosa and Cancy continue to chase the leaders.

-12k: Stybar and Valverde catch Van Avermaet at the front of the race, while Vanmarcke is sputtering out behind them.
Stybar looks very strong. He has calmly responded to every attack.
-11k: Valverde looks at his two companions, exchanges some dialogue, looks back behind them...he seems nervous.

10k to go: The three leaders Van Avermaet, Stybar and Valverde continue to work together out front.
Vanmarcke chases at about +:14; :27 to Rosa, :35 to Oss and Cancellara, the peloton at 1:22.

-8.5k: :10 gap to the three leaders.
-5k: Van Avermaet, Stybar and Valverde continue to lead. :25 to chase-1 (Vanmarcke); behind the big Belgian, chase-2 is comprised of Rosa, Oss, and Cancellara.
-4k: :16 to Ch1; :45 to Ch2.

-3k: Vanmarcke at :16, Rosa, Oss and Cancellara at :44 with the peloton right behind.
-1.3k: Vanmarcke is closing on the three leaders...
Valverde has continued to look around constantly.
Under the red kite they approach the final little climb before the short drop to the finish line.
I am surprised not to see Valverde attacking here. He's the best climber of the three, on paper at least.

Van Avermaet attacks again!
Valverde cracks!
Stybar follows Van Avermaet and goes over the top, passing the BMC classics specialist, and cruises down to the finish line.
Stybar wins the 2015 Strade Bianche! That is his first win of the season.
Van Av rolls in second, at :01; Valverde has to settle for third place, about :18 back. Vanmarcke is fourth at about :46.


Strade Bianche 2015 Results:


Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step
5:22:13

2
Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
0:00:02

3
Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
0:00:18

4
Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
0:00:46

5
Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team
0:00:56

6
Oscar Gatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
0:00:59

7
Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step


8
Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
0:01:02

9
Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida
0:01:03

10
Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha


11
Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo


12
Angel Vicioso (Spa) Team Katusha
0:01:07

13
Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky


14
Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step
0:01:10

15
Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team


16
Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
0:01:19

17
Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
0:01:22

18
Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team
0:01:26

19
Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing


20
Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step


21
Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge
0:01:29

22
Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
0:01:56

23
Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha
0:01:57

24
Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
0:02:01

25
Hayden Roulston (NZl) Trek Factory Racing
0:02:10

26
Nathan Haas (Aus) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
0:02:19

27
Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida
0:04:21

28
Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
0:04:30

29
Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
0:04:47

30
Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
0:04:49

31
Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo
0:05:13

32
Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo


33
Mauro Finetto (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling
0:05:40

34
Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica GreenEdge
0:06:34

35
Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling
0:06:51

36
Elia Favilli (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling
0:07:35

37
Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team


38
Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo


39
Aleksei Tsatevich (Rus) Team Katusha


40
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team


41
Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team


42
Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha


43
Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre-Merida


44
Iuri Filosi (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini


45
Jose Rodolfo Serpa (Col) Lampre-Merida


46
Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team


47
Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Team Sky


48
Marco Fontana (Ita) Italy


49
Dmitrii Kozonchuk (Rus) Team Katusha


50
Alexander Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha
0:07:49

51
Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
0:08:16

52
Andrei Solomennikov (Rus) RusVelo
0:11:18

53
Ildar Arslanov (Rus) RusVelo


54
Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team


55
Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx - Quick-Step
0:11:22

56
Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF


57
Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
0:12:12

58
Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
0:18:31

59
Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step
0:19:20

60
Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team


61
Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo


62
Pablo Lastras (Spa) Movistar Team


63
Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek Factory Racing


64
Ivan Balykin (Rus) RusVelo


65
Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Androni Giocattoli


66
Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Etixx - Quick-Step


67
Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team


68
Roman Maikin (Rus) RusVelo


69
Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team


70
David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk


71
Davide Appollonio (Ita) Androni Giocattoli


72
Artem Ovechkin (Rus) RusVelo


73
Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team


74
Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF


75
Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team


76
Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team


77
Svein Tuft (Can) Orica GreenEdge


78
Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team
0:22:53

79
Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale


80
Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale


81
Daniele Colli (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini


82
Rick Flens (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo


83
Marco Canola (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
0:23:20

84
Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky
0:23:22

85
Manabu Ishibashi (Jpn) Nippo - Vini Fantini
0:24:14

86
Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
0:27:32

87
Simone Velasco (Ita) Italy
0:29:20

88
Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida
0:29:24

89
Artem Nych (Rus) RusVelo
0:31:14

90
Luca Braidot (Ita) Italy
0:32:51


Carlos Betancur (Col) AG2R La Mondiale


DNF
Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale


DNF
Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale


DNF
Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale


DNF
Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale


DNF
Marco Bandiera (Ita) Androni Giocattoli


DNF
Tiziano Dall'Antonia (Ita) Androni Giocattoli


DNF
Alberto Nardin (Ita) Androni Giocattoli


DNF
Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli


DNF
Gianfranco Zilioli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli


DNF
Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team


DNF
Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF


DNF
Francesco Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani CSF


DNF
Andrea Piechele (Ita) Bardiani CSF


DNF
Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF


DNF
Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF


DNF
Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team


DNF
Peter Stetina (USA) BMC Racing Team


DNF
Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Lampre-Merida


DNF
Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida


DNF
Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida


DNF
Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team


DNF
Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team


DNF
Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Movistar Team


DNF
Nicholas Pettina (Ita) Italy


DNF
Seid Lizde (Ita) Italy


DNF
Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini


DNF
Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini


DNF
Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo - Vini Fantini


DNF
Antonio Nibali (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini


DNF
Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge


DNF
Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica GreenEdge


DNF
Adam Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge


DNF
Petr Ignatenko (Rus) RusVelo


DNF
Roman Kustadinchev (Rus) RusVelo


DNF
Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling


DNF
Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling


DNF
Jonathan Monsalve (Ven) Southeast Pro Cycling


DNF
Simone Ponzi (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling


DNF
Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Southeast Pro Cycling


DNF
Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team


DNF
Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team


DNF
Kevin De Weert (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo


DNF
Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNL-Jumbo


DNF
Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk


DNF
Nicolas Lefrancois (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk


DNF
Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk


DNF
Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk


DNF
Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk


DNF
Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk


DNF
Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk


DNF
Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky


DNF
Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky


DNF
Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky


DNF
Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo


DNF
Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo


DNF
Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek Factory Racing


DNF
Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek Factory Racing


DNF
Jasper Stuyven (Lux) Trek Factory Racing


DNF
Calvin Watson (Aus) Trek Factory Racing


DNS
Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step


DNS
Ruben Zepuntke (Ger) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team




The 2015 Strade Bianche final podium








No comments:

Post a Comment