GOOD MORNING FROM STRADE BANCHE BY LIMAR MOSER DEFENDS HIS TITLE IN THE DIRT TRACK CLASSIC San Gimignano, 8 March 2014 - At 10.35 a.m., a peloton of 142 riders started the eighth Strade Bianche by Limar, organised by RCS Sport/La Gazzetta dello Sport. Signing-in took place in San Gimignano’s magnificent Piazza del Duomo, illuminated by bright sunshine. The starters included riders of the calibre of Peter Sagan (second in 2013), Cadel Evans, Alejandro Valverde, Fabian Cancellara, Mark Cavendish, Filippo Pozzato, Diego Ulissi, Daniele Bennati and Michal Kwiatkowski, here to challenge the reigning champion, Moreno Moser. Non-starter: 123 Vladimir Gusev. WEATHER At San Gimignano (stage start): 15°C, scattered cloud. Wind: NE 22 kph. At Pienza (km 115.8) 11.4°C, scattered cloud. Wind: NE 28 kph gusts of 42 kph. At Siena (stage finish): 12°C, clear skies. Wind: NE 18, gusts of 31 kph. 50 KM OF 'WHITE ROAD,' IN 10 SECTIONS, WITH STRETCHES RATED '5 STARS' FOR DIFFICULTY On Saturday 8 March, the peloton takes on an extremely hilly race route at the famous 'Strade Bianche.' The race may lack long climbs, but in their place it offers a long succession of formidable inclines, some of them extremely steep. What makes this race distinctive is the presence of approximately 50 km of dirt tracks, the famous White Roads or Strade Bianche, divided into 10 sections. The White Roads are metalled and compacted into a hard, durable surface, with a minimum of loose gravel and largely free of vegetation. After the race start at San Gimignano, the first 33 km of racing is on rolling, asphalted roads. The route passes close to the splendid medieval village of Monteriggioni, before the first White Road section begins (Section 1: 2.2 km, difficulty **). After another 13 km of asphalt, the second White Road section follows (Section 2: 2.1 km, difficulty *). Perfectly straight and on the slightest of descents, this section is probably the least challenging of the race. 5 km separate Sections Two and Three. The latter represents the first real difficulty of the race. 5.9 km long and rated ****, it begins with a short, gentle descent, before ramping upward for a longer climb at a gradient of around 10%. The fourth White Road section begins at the village of Radi. 4.4 km long at a difficulty of **, this is the second part of what used to be the first section of White Road on the old race route.
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GOOD MORNING FROM STRADE BANCHE BY LIMAR MOSER DEFENDS HIS TITLE IN THE DIRT TRACK CLASSIC
San Gimignano, 8 March 2014 - At 10.35 a.m., a peloton of 142 riders started the eighth Strade Bianche by Limar, organised by RCS Sport/La Gazzetta dello Sport. Signing-in took place in San Gimignano’s magnificent Piazza del Duomo, illuminated by bright sunshine. The starters included riders of the calibre of Peter Sagan (second in 2013), Cadel Evans, Alejandro Valverde, Fabian Cancellara, Mark Cavendish, Filippo Pozzato, Diego Ulissi, Daniele Bennati and Michal Kwiatkowski, here to challenge the reigning champion, Moreno Moser. Non-starter: 123 Vladimir Gusev. WEATHER At San Gimignano (stage start): 15°C, scattered cloud. Wind: NE 22 kph. At Pienza (km 115.8) 11.4°C, scattered cloud. Wind: NE 28 kph gusts of 42 kph. At Siena (stage finish): 12°C, clear skies. Wind: NE 18, gusts of 31 kph. 50 KM OF 'WHITE ROAD,' IN 10 SECTIONS, WITH STRETCHES RATED '5 STARS' FOR DIFFICULTY On Saturday 8 March, the peloton takes on an extremely hilly race route at the famous 'Strade Bianche.' The race may lack long climbs, but in their place it offers a long succession of formidable inclines, some of them extremely steep. What makes this race distinctive is the presence of approximately 50 km of dirt tracks, the famous White Roads or Strade Bianche, divided into 10 sections. The White Roads are metalled and compacted into a hard, durable surface, with a minimum of loose gravel and largely free of vegetation. After the race start at San Gimignano, the first 33 km of racing is on rolling, asphalted roads. The route passes close to the splendid medieval village of Monteriggioni, before the first White Road section begins (Section 1: 2.2 km, difficulty **). After another 13 km of asphalt, the second White Road section follows (Section 2: 2.1 km, difficulty *). Perfectly straight and on the slightest of descents, this section is probably the least challenging of the race. 5 km separate Sections Two and Three. The latter represents the first real difficulty of the race. 5.9 km long and rated ****, it begins with a short, gentle descent, before ramping upward for a longer climb at a gradient of around 10%. The fourth White Road section begins at the village of Radi. 4.4 km long at a difficulty of **, this is the second part of what used to be the first section of White Road on the old race route.
Section Five, the old Section Two, starts immediately afterwards, in woodland, over less demanding gradients (Section 5: 5.5 km, difficulty *). Beyond Buonconvento lies the climb to Montalcino, the longest of the day (4 km at 5%). After the subsequent descent, the race joins Via Cassia, an ancient Roman road (now Strada Statale 2) for the feed zone (km 105 to 108) on the way to San Quirico d’Orcia. At Pienza, the sixth section of White Road begins. This 36-km stretch of asphalt is the longest of the race (Section 6: 9.5 km, difficulty ***), and begins with a climb over a rougher surface, leading to the village of Lucignano d’Asso, and then returning to asphalt roads towards Asciano. At Ponte del Garbo (Asciano, km 147), Section Seven of White Road, the hardest of the race at 11.5 km and with a difficulty rating of *****, begins. Mostly climbing, it also comprises a number of abrupt ramps and hollows, especially on the roads around Monte Sante Marie, where the gradients are very high over short stretches. At Castelnuovo Berardenga, a very short stretch of flat White Road (300 m) precedes Section Eight, beginning just after Monteaperti, which covers 800 m and includes a steep ramp where the gradients reach double figures. Then, the route regains asphalt roads at Vico d’Arbia, and pursues them as far as Pieve a Bozzone, where the penultimate section of White Roads begins (Section 9: 2.4 km, difficulty ****) on the climb up to Colle Pinzuto, with gradients of up to 15%. The final section begins at km 183.8 (Section 10: 1.1 km, difficulty ***), with a sharp descent followed by a steep ascent (maximum gradient 18%) which finishes at the village of Le Tolfe. From there, 12 km remain to the finish line at Siena's Piazza del Campo. FINAL KILOMETRES: GRADIENTS UP TO 16% The final kilometres approach the city of Siena along broad, straight sections of road, connected by sweeping curves, first descending, and then climbing slightly. 2 km from the finish line, the route joins Via Esterna de Fontebranda, where the gradient touches 9%. 900 m from the finish line, the race route passes beneath Fontebranda Gate and the road surface turns to paving slabs. The gradient exceeds 10% until 500 m from the finish line, reaching its highpoint of 16% in Via Santa Caterina. A sharp right hand turn leads to Via delle Terme, and then Via Banchi di Sotto. 300 m to go, the road continues to climb slightly. 150 m from the line, a right turn leads into Via Rinaldini. The route enters the Piazza del Campo just 70 m from the finish line. The final 30 m descend at a gradient of 7%. The finish line itself is flat. LIVE TV AND INTERNET STREAMING The 2014 Strade Bianche by Limar will be broadcast in 110 countries around the world. In Italy, the 8th Strade Bianche by Limar is live on RaiSport 2 from 13.45 to 15.45, with live
streaming at www.raisport.it. It will also be live on Eurosport 2, with real-time updates and analysis at www.gazzetta.it Across Europe, in addition to two hours of live racing on Rai Sport 2 and Eurosport 2, the race is shown in Belgium by the Flemish channel VRT. Strade Bianche can be seen live In Spain on the FORTE group of channels belonging to the autonomous communities: TV3 in Catalonia, TVG in Galicia, TPA in Asturias and EITB in the Basque Country. The channel beIN Sports broadcasts the race exclusively in France and the USA. Al Jazeera will show the race in the Middle East. English-speaking Canada will be able to see Strade Bianche by Limar on the Rogers Communications’ channel Sportsnet. TDN (Televisa Deportes Network) will provide race coverage in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and El Salvador. Strade Bianche by Limar is broadcast in Asia by Eurosport Asia-Pacific. In addition, Sony SIX shows race highlights in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan). TrueVisions will do the same in Thailand. Finally, FOX Sports in Australia and Sky Sport (New Zealand) serve to confirm the great interest in cycling in Italy by showing highlights of Strade Bianche by Limar. TEAMS 18 teams participating: 11 UCI ProTeams and 7 UCI Professional Continental Teams: 1. CANNONDALE (ITA) – Moreno Moser, Peter Sagan 2. ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI (ITA) – Franco Pelizzoti, Johnny Hoogerland 3. ASTANA PRO TEAM (KAZ) – Maxim Iglinskiy, Fredrik Kessiakoff 4. BARDIANI CSF (ITA) – Marco Coledan, Marco Canola 5. BMC RACING TEAM (USA) – Cadel Evans, Samuel Sanchez 6. COLOMBIA (COL) – Miguel Rubiano Chavez, Fabio Duarte 7. IAM CYCLING (SUI) – Thomas Lövkvist, Gustav Larsson 8. LAMPRE-MERIDA (ITA) – Filippo Pozzato, Diego Ulissi 9. MOVISTAR TEAM (ESP) – Alejandro Valverde, Intxausti Benat 10. MTN - QHUBEKA (RSA) – Adrien Niyonshuti, Daniel Teklehaimanot 11. OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (BEL) – Mark Cavendish, Michal
Kwiatkowski 12. TEAM GIANT-SHIMANO (NED) – Waren Barguil, Tom Stamsnijder 13. TEAM KATUSHA (RUS) – Alexandr Kolobnev, Luca Paolini 14. TEAM SKY (GBR) – Ian Stannard, Dario Cataldo
15. TINKOFF-SAXO (RUS) – Daniele Bennati, Roman Kreuziger 16. TREK FACTORY RACING (USA) – Fabian Cancellara, Yaroslav Popovich 17. UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (USA) – Alessandro
Bazzana, Martijn Maaskant 18. YELLOW FLUO (ITA) – Mauro Finetto, Matteo Rabottini HALL OF FAME 2007 - Aleksandr Kolobnev (RUS) 2008 - Fabian Cancellara (SUI) 2009 - Thomas Lovkvist (SWE) 2010 - Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ) 2011 - Philippe Gilbert (BEL) 2012 - Fabian Cancellara (SUI) 2013 - Moreno Moser (ITA) The Race HQ (press room and race admin) is at Palazzo Sansedoni, c/o Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena (Banchi di Sotto 34, Siena) Info: SHIFT Active Media Matteo Cavazzuti RCS Sport cycling press office Ph. (+44) 01225 448333 Ph.: (+39) 348 5838779 E-mail: [email protected] Tw.: @Shiftactive - @MatCavazzuti
