Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans) proudly stood on the top step of the podium in Siena on Saturday. The American winner of the inaugural women’s Strade Bianche soloed across the line. Thirty-seven seconds later Guarnier’s teammate Lizzie Armitstead bested Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle Honda) in a two-up sprint for second place.
The story of the season continues to be the collective strength of the Boels-Dolmans squad that has delivered six victories in three races (Ladies Tour of Qatar, Le Samyn des Dames, Strade Bianche) with four different riders. The race win belonged to Guarnier and her teammates, but the day was inarguably a victory for women’s cycling as well. The first-time women’s event, which finished four hours before the men’s race, delivered on the charm and challenge it promised.
The atmosphere before the race began in San Gimignano was electric. The nerves and excitement amongst the riders and the teams were palpable during the early morning team presentations and as riders shook out arms and legs to keep warm and loose as they staged ahead of the official start. And when the racing began, it was clear we were in for a real treat. It was feast for the eyes from start to finish – the white gravel roads, the stunning Tuscan landscape, the faces of focus and suffering and finally (for some) delight.
Emma Johansson said it best: “When I crossed the line, I was already starting to count down the days until I could race Strade Bianche again.”
Johansson wasn’t the only one Ella CyclingTips spoke with post-race. Our photo gallery includes comments from Elena Cecchini (Lotto-Soudal), Iris Slappendel (Bigla), Eric van den Boom (Rabo Liv team manager), Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS), Chloe Hosking (Wiggle Honda), Loren Rowney (Velocio-SRAM), Mara Abbott (Wiggle Honda), Ashleigh Moolman Paiso (Bigla), Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle Honda), and, of course, race winner Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans).
Looking for a more traditional race report. You’ll find that here. Want to watch the Strade Bianche highlights video? You can do that here.
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- For the last eight years, Strade Bianche has been a men’s only race. The UCI asked race organisers RCS Sport, to add a women’s race to one of the events they organise – Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano Sanremo, Giro d’Italia, Il Lombardio or Dubai Tour. They ultimately chose to have the women’s peloton race over the famous white gravel roads that give Strade Bianche its name.“We chose Strade Biance because of the quality of the race, said Giusy Virelli, RCS Sport technical manager. “This is not a token race. This not a kermesse. It’s a real race for real cyclists and real cycling fans.” Andrea Marcellini, the UCI women’s cycling coordinator added: “I spoke with the race organisers later, and they said to me ‘We took the UCI’s challenge.’ and I find it interesting that they felt challenged to organise a women’s race. I like that. Challenged is a very powerful feeling. When they challenge themselves, I think they will inspire the sponsors and the media and the community of women’s cycling as a whole to join the challenges we face in advancing women’s cycling. I think that’s when we’ll have something really big - when everyone is working together.”
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- It was a cold start in San Gimignano. The women’s race began at 9am, 90 minutes before the start of the men’s race and finished nearly four hours before the men rode into Siena. “I hope maybe next year we can start a bit later and arrive just one hour before the men so that we’ll have more crowds,” said Italian national road champion Elena Cecchini (Lotto-Soudal). “We had good crowds today but maybe with a later start we can do even better.”
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- Custom paint job for Iris Slappendel in honour of her national title. Slappendel moved from Rabo Liv to Bigla this year and has enjoyed the change. “Rabo was the best team in the world,” Slappendel said. “Now I’m not in the best team of the world anymore, and that’s nice somehow. It’s less pressure, but also I feel more free for the role I have. I have more chances because I have less teammates who are maybe on the super high level like they are on Rabo. That motivates me also to make an extra step again myself. I was pushed in a certain role on Rabo or maybe I did it to myself, but now I feel more freedom to get out and keep improving and do different things with Bigla.”
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- Rabo Liv started Strade Bianche with five riders and one goal. “For sure, the goal was to win,” said Eric van den Boom, team manager of Rabo Liv. “We had the feeling that with Anna van der Breggen and Kasia Niewiadoma, our Polish rider, that we had two riders that are very strong and can be in the front. We thought Boels and Emma Johansson and Elisa Longo Borghini would be really strong competitors. The main goal is always to win at every race, but it was unrealistic at the end at Strade Bianche. Everything worked as planned, but we were not strong enough.”
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- Every rider that lined up for Strade Bianche seemed to recognise the importance of the race, which was unexpected for Elena Ceccini. “I was really surprised and also happy,” she said. “I know that really strong riders like Lizzie Armitstead and Tiffany Cromwell wanted to do this race and win this race. In Italy, we know the history of this race as it’s linked to L’Eroica. For us, it’s really important, and I’m really happy that the other girls understand the importance, too.” She added the wearing the tricolore jersey of Italian national champion made the day even more special for her: “It was a really big emotion for me. I saw so many people cheering for me on the road. It doesn’t happen so often in the season because we don’t have so many Italian races. It was really special.”
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- Stem notes on a Boels-Dolmans Specialized Amira indicate the start and finish of each of the five gravel sections. These ‘strade bianche’ segments totaled 17km of gravel throughout the 103km course. Only one stretch of gravel was featured in the first half of the race. The remaining four were included in the second half. Most feared was the longest gravel section (9.5km) that came at 58km. “I come from a mountain background, so I was loving the gravel sections,” said Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS). “I was trying to go as fast as possible on the downhill sections and suffer as much as I could on the uphill. I’m quite comfortable with letting my bike slide around and to go fast on loose surfaces, but I know other girls are not used to that at all. They were grabbing a lot of brakes and uncomfortable on the gravel where they would maybe be more comfortable on cobbles. It’s not as hard on the legs as cobbles, but you definitely have to concentrate. Often where the wheel ruts are will be the best line, so it’s quite hard to pass on those roads because there are really only two good lines to ride, which is why the bunch splits up and strings out so quickly on the gravel.”
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![The women’s peloton stages in San Gimignano. “I was excited but actually also a little frightened for the race,” said Iris Slappendel. “We rode the course before, and it was very hard. For me personally, for the kind of rider that I am, it’s too hard for me to go for a good result, especially in March. I love to suffer in a race, so I was still looking forward to it.” While a personal result was out of the question for Slappendel, she lined up with a personal objective. “For me personally, the goal was to help Ashleigh [Moolman Paiso] and give her an easy time to the second gravel section. I was happy with my performance that I could do that.”](../../../images-sub/content/uploads/2015/03/20150307-084634.jpg)
- The women’s peloton stages in San Gimignano. “I was excited but actually also a little frightened for the race,” said Iris Slappendel. “We rode the course before, and it was very hard. For me personally, for the kind of rider that I am, it’s too hard for me to go for a good result, especially in March. I love to suffer in a race, so I was still looking forward to it.” While a personal result was out of the question for Slappendel, she lined up with a personal objective. “For me personally, the goal was to help Ashleigh [Moolman Paiso] and give her an easy time to the second gravel section. I was happy with my performance that I could do that.”
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- The peloton largely stuck together in opening kilometres of the race. Early aggression came from Rabo Liv, who sent a handful of riders up the road. “We planned maybe to have an escape at the beginning but it was not the case,” said Eric van den Boom, team manager of Rabo Liv. “We did some attacking but it was not happening. That was not a problem.”
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- The five gravel sections were the main talking points ahead of the race but the white roads were far from the only challenge. The entire course undulated with barely a metre of flat. “It was pretty stress free until the second gravel section,” said Gracie Elvin. “The bunch was a bit nervous, and it was quite high speed, but we looked after ourselves well.” Ashleigh Moolman Paiso (Bigla) also commented on the nerves in the early part of the race: “The bunch was really nervous, so there a lot of unnecessarily dangerous sections where people would just react quite quickly to something little, and it’s a like a domino effect in the bunch.”
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- We love the blog post Chloe Hosking (Wiggle Honda) wrote about Strade Bianche. (Well – let’s be honest, we love all her blog posts.) “The course started in San Gimignano and went virtually straight uphill (if you discount the neutral start). From then on it was up and down all day before we finally looped around and climbed up to the finish in the centre of Siena. Throw in some crosswinds on the gravel roads, hills up gravel roads and down hill on gravel roads, and yeah, there were more than a few challenges. But it was sort of like when you ask for a really deep massage; you know it’s going to hurt but it’s that good sort of pain where your face is contorted but at the same time you’re thinking: ‘This is so good.’ “
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![Velocio-SRAM was thrown a bit of a curve ball when Tiffany Cromwell, who had long named Strade Bianche as an early season target, fell ill. “For us, Alena [Amialiusik] was the rider for the day because Tiff’s been sick, so we had to change tactics,” Loren Rowney (Velocio-SRAM) explained. “Our main thing today was to drive it in to the longest gravel section, which we did. That was really good. We came together. We executed that perfectly. We had as many riders as we could up there. It was part of what made the selection.”](../../../images-sub/content/uploads/2015/03/20150307-093607.jpg)
- Velocio-SRAM was thrown a bit of a curve ball when Tiffany Cromwell, who had long named Strade Bianche as an early season target, fell ill. “For us, Alena [Amialiusik] was the rider for the day because Tiff’s been sick, so we had to change tactics,” Loren Rowney (Velocio-SRAM) explained. “Our main thing today was to drive it in to the longest gravel section, which we did. That was really good. We came together. We executed that perfectly. We had as many riders as we could up there. It was part of what made the selection.”
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- The peloton hits the first of five gravel sections. “It’s unpredictable riding on gravel,” said Iris Slappendel. “Normally you enter a corner and you can make a calculation in your head. You know how fast to take a corner from your own experience. Since I have no experience on gravel, it was hard to make those predictions. It made me really nervous going in and hoping that I made the right calculation beforehand.”
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- Mara Abbott lost contact with the main bunch on the second section of gravel. The longest ‘strade bianche’ split the race to pieces. From there, it would be a race of attrition. “The gravel sections definitely made the race far more selective than the same course on pavement would have been,” said Abbott. “The gravel wasn’t that hard to ride. It just required complete concentration.”
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- The peloton tackles the first ascent of the second gravel section. “We wanted to be the team driving it into this section,” said Ashleigh Moolman Paiso. “And for Bigla it worked out perfectly to plan. My job on the day was to drive it really hard on all the uphill drags on the longest section. The headwind made it really hard. Although I did make an impact on it to split it up, there were more girls in the split than we had wanted. And from there it became a really tactical race.”
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- Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) was an obvious pick for the podium before the start of Strade Bianche. When the decisive moves were made on the second stretch of gravel, Johansson wasn’t there. Her name wasn’t mentioned in the live race coverage on Twitter or the post-race highlights. It was a surprise to many. Understandably some thought Johansson simply suffered uncharacteristically bad legs. But it wasn’t bad legs. It was bad luck. Johansson punctured on the gravel shortly after this picture was taken. “I heard a hissing sound. I looked around for a few moments before realizing that I was the one who had the flat. It was a really bad moment,” Johansson said. She was forced to wait road-side before she was able to take a wheel from teammate Valentina Scandolara – and although the race was long gone, Johansson gave chase. She managed to work her way back to the second group on the road, ultimately finishing in 12th place. “I’m proud that I fought. I think a lot of people in my situation would throw in the towel. They would think it was impossible to get back to the front because they were far, far, far away – so they wouldn’t even try. Me? That’s just not who I am. I’m never going to give up. You never know what’s going to happen, and a race isn’t over until you pass the finish line. I had looked forward to this course and this race for a long time, and to be a part of it and ride into that famous finish – I still wanted to do that. And I wanted to do it with pride.”
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- Alena Amialiusik digs deep up the gravel climb. “The race played out exactly how we thought it would,” said Loren Rowney, Amialiusik’s teammate. “The course made the selection.”
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- By the mid-point of the race, coming off the second section of gravel, only 14 riders remained in contention. Along with Guarnier, Armitstead and Longo Borghini, Anna Soloveny (Astana – Acca Due O), Annemiek van Vleuten (Bigla), Shelley Olds (Bigla), Ashleigh Moolman Paiso (Bigla), Lizzie Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans), Christine Majerus (Boels-Dolmans), Olena Pavlukhina (BTC City Ljubljana), Lucinda Brand (Rabo Liv Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Rabo Liv), Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv), Alena Amialiusik (Velocio – SRAM) and Trixi Worrack (Velocio – SRAM) had made the cut. By the time the group had exited the second gravel section, they had nearly a minute advantage over the second group. “The race was already done on the 9.5 kilometre gravel section,” said Elisa Longo Borghini (Wiggle Honda), who exited the second gravel sector with the leaders. “We had the main selection there. Boels, Rabo and Bigla were controlling the race. They were playing with numbers. They were too many and really strong and really well-prepared.”
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- The selective nature of the course along with a series of attacks by Moolman further reduced the size of the front group. As they excited the third section of gravel only ten riders remained in front. “Boels won the race but I think actually Bigla made the race,” said Iris Slappendel, Moolman’s teammate. “Ashleigh made it really hard from the second section, and Rabo was pretty active from the start with the attacking.”
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- The front group continued to split as the steep climbs, winding descents and blustery winds took their toll. Only five riders remained in contention - Moolman, Armitstead, Guarnier, van der Breggen and Longo Borghini – coming into the fourth sector of gravel.
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- Megan Guarnier celebrates as she crossed the line. The American countered an attack made by her teammate Lizzie Armitstead with 20km left to race. Guarnier immediately created a gap, quickly opening up a lead of 40 seconds. Despite lacking time gaps as she powered toward the finish, the 29-year-old managed to maintain her advantage over the undulating run-in to Siena. “This is a really big win,” said Guarnier, who delivered her first big European result in Tuscany three years ago at the Giro della Toscana Femminile. “I’m still a little bit in disbelief. I remember sitting on the couch a year ago watching the men’s race. I said: ‘Wow. What an incredible race. I want to do that.’ And then when I found out we were going to race it, I thought about it and said: ‘I want to win that.’ It’s not every day that you say you want to win a race and then it happens.”
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- Winners are grinners. “I feel incredibly fortunate to be here with the first women’s race at Strade Bianche,” said Megan Guarnier. “It’s an honour to be here and a bit of an unbelievable feeling to win.”
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- Lizzie Armitstead beats Elisa Longo Borghini to the line for second place. Ashleigh Moolman Pasio will cross the line in fourth place. “When Guarnier went, I couldn’t do anything,” said Longo Borghini. “I had to follow and save everything for the last kilometre. I think I raced quite smart. I’m third in the finish, and I’m happy to be third. “My goal was to enjoy the race and race as hard as I could without thinking about the result. I think I can be satisfied. I have a good level.”
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- Ashleigh Moolman Pasio had mixed feelings about her fourth place finish. “”I felt good going up that last climbs,” said Moolman Paiso. “Lizzie, Elisa and myself got a good gap up to the finish, but I messed up my positioning going into the last corner. Close but no cigar. Fourth is not the nicest place, but it was a good race for Bigla. We’re getting closer and closer to the podium every race.”
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- The Specialized Amira that won Strade Bianche. We love that paint job.
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- Champagne celebrations. Elisa Longo Borghini douses Megan Guarnier with champagne.
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- Much to the delight of the crowd gathered around the podium, Lizzie Armitstead and Megan Guarnier hilariously struggled to open their bottles of champagne.
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- Megan Guarnier eventually required professional assistance, but her champagne bottle still stubbornly refused to open.
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- Megan Guarnier is the fourth Boels-Dolmans rider to snag the top spot of the podium this season. “It’s exciting for us,” said Guarnier. “There’s pressure to keep it up, but there’s such a good feeling in the team. We have each other’s backs and no matter who is on the top of the podium, we’re happy. I think our results speak for themselves – four different riders on the podium already this year.”
