The 2015 edition of the Strade Bianchi race will see the addition of two new events, an elite women's race held on the same day as the men's, and a Gran Fondo sportive for amateur cyclists.
The Strade Bianchi race was itself inspired by a sportive - the annual L'Eroica retro sportive held in October - so the addition of a gran fondo sees the wheel turn full circle.
The Gran Fondo will take place on Sunday 8 March on the same roads that the pros have raced the day before. Full details are yet to be announced, but organisers have revealed that the finishing line will be on Piazza Il Campo in Siena, the same as the pro race.
The events will start on Saturday 7 March with the UCI Women Elite 1.1 category race, which departs from San Gimignano and finishes, after 103 kilometres, in Siena's amazing Piazza Il Campo. This will be followed on the same day by the classic men's edition, a UCI Europe Tour 1.HC rated cycling race of 200km.
The women's race will start at 9am over a course featuring 17km of gravel sections split into five sections. The men start 90 minutes later on a route that includes 50km of "white road". The course is the same as last year's, when Michal Kwiatkowski edged out Peter Sagan to claim the win 6 months before being crowned World Champion.
Team Wiggle Honda's new signing Elisa Longho Borghini said, "I'm really happy for the birth of this fantastic race. For all the Italian women cyclists and for the women's cycling movement in general it's fundamental to have races of this level. I would like to thank, on behalf of all my fellow athletes, those who helped to add the event to our racing calendar. A race like this, held just before the men's event, gives me a double satisfaction, considering it fits my characteristics as rider. I've already put it as one of my season targets."
We'll add full details of the Gran Fondo as soon as they're released. In the meantime, package deals for October's L'Eroica sportive are now on sale, with pre-registration open from 9-28 February.
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