Strade Bianche

Alejandro Valverde returns this Saturday to a race as beautiful for the spectator as hard and demanding for the cyclist. A race which oozes history, despite being one of the youngest of the UCI WT. In just a decade, it has established itself as one of the races with the greatest pedigree in the international calendar. Due to its spectacular route and its unique characteristics, the Strade Bianche has agreed to the entire world of cycling

The Tuscan race consists of 184 kilometers with eleven sections of sterrato (dirty roads made of sand) on its way to Siena. 63 kilometers crosses these old roads through the heart of one of the most beautiful regions of Italy, with several sections with ascending slopes.

Furthermore, this edition adds the frigid temperatures of the last days, which have covered with snow part of their route, to the intrinsic difficulty of the race. Valverde, who has risen to the podium of this race twice, will have to face big rivals like the Polish Michal Kwiatkowski (double winner in the Piazza del Campo in Siena), the Belgians Greg Van Avermaet (BMC ) and Philippe Gilbert (Quick Step), the Slovak Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) or the Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida). This is a fantastic menu for one of the most attractive events of the season.