2012 Strade Bianche: More Photos and Equipment Choices

Here are some interesting details about the equipment choices made by Lampre-ISD's mechanics for the Strade Bianche race. Considering the tough hills, the dirt road sectors, and the wet and sunny weather (22°), the blue-fuchsia riders used:

- Fulcrum R Zero wheelsets for Buts, Cimolai and Mori,

- Fulcrum Racing Light wheelset for Niemiec,

- 32 spoke wheelsets for Malori, Graziato, Dmytro Krivtsov and Viganò,

- Vittoria Pavè 24 tubulars on all wheels; Pit Stop Vittoria was used in all the tubulars in order to avoid punctures (only two punctures during the race occurred),

- Tubular tire pressure at the start of the race: 7,5 atmospheres front (110.2 psi), 7,8 (114.6 psi) atmospheres rear,

- Tubular tire pressure at the finish: 6,3 atmospheres front (92.5 psi), 6,5 atmospheres rear (95.5 psi),

- Gearing: 53-39 with 12-27.


Long time ICJ reader Kelly watched the race and sends these photographs for our viewing pleasure, and writes, "This race is awesome! It has everything...a beautiful route filled with the strade bianche, twisty paved sections and a spectacular finish in Siena!!! We rode to section 1 near Radi...then over to near Asciano for section 5...we climbed the Monte Sante Maria...again, hard but worth the effort...all that beauty around seems to help one deal with the pain...I registered for L'Eroica in October! So I will be back..."








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Fabian Cancellara Wins 2012 Strade Bianche

Fabian Cancellara (Team Radioshack-Nissan) won the 6th edition of the Strade Bianche, for his second victory in the race. Showing a spectacular display of power Cancellera attacked his breakaway companions in an uphill stretch of dirt road on the 8th, and last section of the dirt roads, and charged in solitude to the finish line in Siena. Cancellara preceded Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) and Oscar Gatto (Farnese-Selle Italia) by 42 seconds. Finishing 4th was Alessandro Ballan at 46 seconds, and Greg Van Avermaet (both BMC Racing Team) in same time.

After the race Cancellara dedicated his victory to his family saying, "I dedicate this victory to my family. A few days ago my uncle died and the pain we have is all in my heart. I don't know if today I was the strongest, I had the motivation and desire to give my loved ones something important."

Of the race, "I always ride to win. Last spring I was close to a big win several times but it’s never easy to win. Maybe I was missing a little bit but you can’t do anything about it. Today it all went perfect thanks to work of the team and especially Daniele Bennati. When Bennati made his attack (with 38 km to go), I looked to see how the other riders were. I was tired; it had been a hard, intense, fast race. When Bennati went, nobody went after him and that made me realize that I wasn’t the only tired one. That motivated me and something clicked in my mind."

The great one-day classics of the North now have a big favorite.

Video of last 12 km:


Click on photos to enlarge.

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,300 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page

Stars to Clash at 2012 Strade Bianche on Saturday

Philippe Gilbert will wear number one at the Strade Bianche race on Saturday, 3 March, but faces serious competition from some of the best riders in the peloton as he attempts to win on the iconic dirt roads of Tuscany for a second year. Gilbert’s powerful BMC Racing Team line-up includes George Hincapie, Alessandro Ballan and Greg Van Avermaet. Tour de France winner Cadel Evans will ride in support of Gilbert before targeting Tirreno-Adriatico.

Some of the best classsics riders and climbers in the peloton will be out to beat the BMC team. The names of previous winners Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack Nissan Trek) and Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) stand out on the official entry list of 14 teams, as do those of 2011 Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Van Summeren (Garmin-Barracuda), Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Roman Kreuziger (Astana). The Garmin-Barracuda team also includes Dan Martin, Ryder Hesjedal and Christian Vande Velde.

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) leads the Italian challenge and proved he is on form with his stage win at the recent Tour of Oman. Italian national champion Giovanni Visconti captains the Movistar team and recently trained on the dirt roads, learning the secrets of the farm tracks that wind through the Tuscany vineyards. Other Italians include sprinter and Tuscan resident Daniele Bennati (Radioshack Nissan Trek), Trofeo Laigueglia winner Moreno Moser (Liquigas- Cannondale) and the prodigious Enrico Battaglin (Colnago-CSF Inox). Despite fracturing his collarbone in Qatar, Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) is due to ride Strade Bianche. Also on the entry list are China’s Ji Cheng (Team 1t4i), while Fabio Duartes leads the Colombia- Coldeportes team.

The testing 190km race route starts in Giaole in Chianti at 1100 and ends in the spectacular Piazza del Campo in the center of Siena that hosts the annual Palio horse race. There are eight hilly sections of dirt roads for a total of 57.2km of racing on the Strade Bianche. The final sections of dirt roads usually split the peloton before the climb to the center of Siena and the downhill sprint to the finish. The course, "segmento" identifies each section, click to enlarge:


Teams and riders for the 6th edition (click to enlarge):


Past winners:
2011 Philippe Gilbert
2010 Maxim Iglinskiy
2009 Thomas Lovquist
2008 Fabian Cancellara
2007 Alexandr Kolobnev

Photo: (top) Philippe Gilbert on his way to winning last year; (below) a fan cheers during last year's race





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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,300 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

2012 "Strade Bianche" Team Substitution

Team Rusvelo will not be participating due to a "logistical problem" and has been replaced with Utensilnord–Named (IRL) in the 6th edition of "Strade Bianche" to be held on March 3rd. Fabio Bordonali, team manager of Utensilnord – Named commented, "The invitation from RCS Sport to attend the Strade Bianche is a pleasant surprise for us: we were very pleased with the invitations to Milan-San Remo and Il Lombardia but this additional opportunity to be recognized in an international event such as the Strade Bianche only adds to our motivation."

The teams participating:

UCI Pro Team:
Astana Pro Team (KAZ)
BMC Racing Team (USA)
Garmin – Barracuda (USA)
Lampre – ISD (ITA)
Liquigas – Cannondale (ITA)
Movistar Team (ESP)
Radioshack – Nissan (LUX)

UCI Professional Team:
Acqua & Sapone (ITA)
Colombia – Coldeportes (COL)
Colnago – CSF Inox (IRL)
Farnese Vini – Selle Italia (GBR)
Project 1T4I (NED)
Team Type 1 - Sanofi (USA)
Utensilnord – Named (IRL)

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,300 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.