Pro Cycling Races Are Back With the Strade Bianche
After a four-and-a-half-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, professional cycling has returned.
Teams gathered to race the Strade Bianche and women’s Strade Bianche, originally scheduled for March 7, on August 1. But it wasn’t exactly business as usual.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) rolled out its coronavirus protocol for racing in June, outlining the many safety measures teams and race organizers must take before and during races. Field sizes were also greatly reduced—by roughly half for the women and by more than two-thirds for the men.
In addition to the challenges faced by coronavirus, the return to racing for team Trek-Segafredo was marred by the theft of six women’s bikes during the night before the race. According to their social media, the team had to compete on spare bikes.
Belgian cyclist Wout van Aert, a three-time cyclocross world champion, of team Jumbo-Visma won the men’s race out of a field of 50 riders. Italian Davide Formolo placed second this year, and German Maximillian Schachmann placed third. Van Aert came in third place in the Strade Bianche in both 2018 and 2019. This is his third year competing at the WorldTour level.
“It’s never easy to win and it was harder than usual in today’s circumstances. It makes the win even better,” said Van Aert, in the press release from race organizer RCS Sports. “To have won Strade Bianche at the age of only 25, with a cyclocross background is a huge achievement.”
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Dutch cyclist Annemiek Van Vleuten, the current road world champion and last year’s Strade Bianche winner, took the victory again in the women’s race in a field of 58 riders. Van Vleuten has also previously won the Giro Rosa and La Course twice. Spanish cyclist Margarita “Mavi” Garcia Canellas placed second, and American Leah Thomas finished third.
“I had a lot of emotions today. I didn’t think I would catch Mavi Garcia and I believe the whole scenario has made it a very spectacular race,” Van Vleuten said in a press release.
The next men’s race on the WorldTour calendar is the Milano-Sanremo on August 8, and the next women’s WorldTour race is the GP de Plouay on August 25. The UCI recently approved a reduction in team size for the Milano-Sanremo, which will also allow two additional teams to participate.
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