On the start line at Strade Bianche

Photo action from Siena and early images from the women's race

10:35, Saturday 2nd March 2024

Daniel Benson

Editor in Chief

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Lizzie Deignan leads Strade Bianche for Lidl-Trek

The Spring Classics landed in Siena, Italy on Saturday for Strade Bianche with high class fields in both the men's and women's WorldTour pelotons.

The women's race tackles 137km with the men racing 215km with each race beefed up to include even more gravel sectors than in previous years.

142 riders signed on for the women's race, including defending champion Demi Vollering and her SD Worx-Protime teammate Lotte Kopecky. The field also included former winners and Lidl-Trek teammates Lizzie Deignan and Elisa Longo Borghini with the riders taking a brisk 9.45am (CET) start.

Demi Vollering signs in at the start of Strade Bianche

The women's race was stacked with other major stars too, including recent Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Marianne Vos of Visma-Lease a Bike, Mavi García (Liv AlUla Jayco), Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) were also present and accounted for.

In an exclusive interview with GCN, the Dutch rider highlighted the key elements of the race.

“The positioning is important too, for the whole race, and that suits me better than riding in the main peloton. You have to be aggressive and maybe riders will be more attentive of my racing this year. I don’t know if that will make it harder but they all know who I am. I want to answer with the pedals, so hopefully it’s not a problem.”

Omloop winner Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) heads to the sign on

The men's race started after the women's event, set to embark on 215km of racing. Four more sectors of dirt roads have been added to the men's race with the race organisers hoping that the extended route will help the event move into Monument status in the coming years.

Defending champion Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) is among the favourites, along with 2022 winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who is making his season debut in the race.

Sepp Kuss (Visma Lease a Bike) is a favourite for the men's edition of Strade Bianche

Pogačar is seen by many as the rider to beat after his exploits two years ago and his incredible record of winning his season debut during every season dating back to 2019.

“Everyone is talking about a late debut but it's not that late since we're still in winter and it seems to be chilly! I wanted to train a little more,” he said before the race.

“In the last few days, to tell the truth, I began to feel a strong desire to compete inside me. To have fun. I'm really motivated.”