And finally the long-awaited debut of this season of Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian cyclist delayed his debut more than before and chose as his stage no less than one of the most famous classics, which also increased in toughness this year: the Street Bianchewhich now celebrates its 18th edition and for the first time exceeds 200 km (215), which translates into greater hardness and greater presence of ‘sterrato’, stretches of land in Tuscany (Italy) who gave their name to a test that debuted in 2007 and that was in Switzerland Fabian Cancellara the runner with the most wins, three (2008, 12 and 16).
Winner of the 2022 edition, ‘Handsome’ He will be competing in his fifth Strade Bianche, a test he has thoroughly prepared for and for which the cast of riders is at the highest level. A total of 18 UCI World Team and 7 UCI Pro Team teams are competing in the event, which as we said will have to play carefully in the 215 kilometers of a race that starts in Siena and ends in Field Square located in the middle of said city, as is tradition. The increase in mileage has also caused an increase in the number of dirt sections, synonymous with hardness and uncertainty, from 11 last year to 15 this year; adding a total of 73 kilometers of ‘track’, for 33% of the total route.
The first of them, Vidritta, It is located at kilometer 14, it is the simplest and is only 2.1 kilometers long. The ones with the highest mileage are Lucignano d’Assa (km 76.8) and Mount Sainte Marie (km 131) with 11.9 and 11.5 kilometers of terrain, and the most difficult are Sante Maria itself and its predecessor, San Martino in Grania (km 112.7), five stars and 9.5 kilometers long. The last section of the ‘sterrato’, Le Tolfeis the shortest, 1.1 kilometers, it has four stars in difficulty and is at kilometer 202.2, 13 kilometers from a finish line with many candidates.
Next to pogacar, highlights the presence of Julian Alaphilippe, Sepp Kuss, Alberto Bettiol, Egan Bernal, Tom Pidcock, Christopher Laporte, Carapaz or Lenny Martínez, among others. There are ten Spanish cyclists registered, four of them in the Movistar Team –García Cortina, Canal, Serrano and Samitier– and the only Spanish cyclist who has historically flirted with victory is the retired one Alejandro Valverde: 2nd in 2022 and 3rd in 2014 and 2015. The start of the men’s race is at 11:15 am and the women’s race, which celebrates its tenth edition and will be held at a distance of 137 kilometers, in full which is 11:30 in the morning.
After Strade Bianche, Pogacar will compete in Milan-San Remo (16) and then the Cycling Tour in Cataloniawhich starts on March 18 at Sant Feliu de Guíxols.
Source: La Verdad
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