SIENA- STRADE BIANCHE 2019

FROM CHIANTI TO CRETE SENESI ON THE WHEELS!

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” (Ernest Hemingway)

As Hemingway said, bike means sweat, but it allows you better than any other means to get to know a territory, exploring the roads, feeling the struggle on the slopes and speeding in the plains. Only by bike it is possible to admire the wonder of a landscape without stopping, feeling part of it and at the same time, to keep on going.

An ideal landscape for cycling is certainly the one that surrounds Siena, which on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 March 2019 hosts the Gran Fondo Strade Bianche, now on its thirteenth edition for the men’s competition and the fifth for the women’s one.

The beautiful scenery of the Crete Senesi, among hills and cypresses, will accompany this race dedicated to dirt roads, which has been in the Uci World Tour calendar since last year. Strade Bianche is now considered the “Northern Classic of Southern Europe”, presenting the peculiarities of the two most famous races in the north: the Paris-Roubaix for the long and tiring stretches in rough roads (if in the French race there is pavé, here we have the “sterri” toscani) and the Tour of Flanders, with numerous and very hard “walls”, short stretches of road with very high slope. The ideal cyclist of Strade Bianche is in fact the one that combines resistance on the hills to the sprint, because of the Sienese slopes and the frequent uphill sections of dirt roads.

The race brings the greatest professionals of the world circuit to Siena every year. Among the participants and winners are names such as: Peter Sagan, Alejandro Valverde, Damiano Cunego, Greg Van Avermaet, Zdeněk Štybar, Tiesj Benoot, Romain Bardet. In addition, the Swiss Fabian Cancellara triumphed in Siena three times, seeing himself devote even a stretch of dirt path, at Monte Sante Marie.

The race, both for professionals and amateurs, is always with road bikes, which is quite a thing considering the kilometers of white roads, but the beauty of the surrounding landscape can maybe soften the efforts of the riders. For all the routes of Strade Bianche, in fact, the starting point is the Fortezza Medicea of Siena and the finish line is in the beautiful Piazza del Campo, crossing a region enchanting the whole world: the Crete Senesi, Val d’Arbia, Val d’Orcia and the southern part of Chianti.

The day of Saturday 9 will be entirely dedicated to professionals, both men and women, for whom it will count as the first stage of the new Uci Women’s World Tour, while Sunday 10 will be the day of the two routes for amateurs.

This year, the path for professionals will be very similar to the last edition: 184 km of which 63km of unpaved roads, divided into 11 sectors. After about 17 km the first stretch of dirt road, then again in Bagnaia and Radi. After passing Montalcino there is the longest stretch between Torrenieri and Buonconvento and then you get to the legendary Monte Sante Marie from Asciano, finally, after Castelnuovo Berardenga, “the door of Chianti”, you get to the final stage with the dirt climb of Le Tolfe, closer to the heart of Siena, the paved climb of Fontebranda before reaching the world-famous shell shaped Piazza del Campo.

For amateurs there are two routes: the Gran Fondo, 139 km of which 31 km of dirt roads and the Medio Fondo, 86 km with 22 km of dirt roads.

Siena and its surroundings are getting ready to welcome this important event that, for years now, has brought thousands of enthusiasts to visit. The elegant hotels in the city center, as well as the wonderful resorts and holiday farms in the countryside are ready to welcome you. Caesar Luxury Travel will gladly be at your disposal to organize your stay in Siena proposing fantastic bike tours accompanied by local guides. Write to us soon!