Stage 1: Women's Race Full Results and Report
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Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolman) on one one of the Gravel sectors after the Women's blew apart in the first edition of the race: “I loved the course. I think it was a hard course, and it makes it more of a woman-to-woman battle than a matter of team tactics, because it becomes a select field by the end. But the course was amazing, and hard, I love the Strade Bianche. I really wasn’t looking around so much today. It was incredible because you had the climbs and the wind, which was surprisingly strong. I was told it would be windy, but when we got to the places where it hit us, it was surprisingly strong. It was a very complete race: you needed power to get through the wind, and you needed to hit the hard climbs, too. The course was enjoyable, the people along the sidelines were enjoyable, but I probably missed a lot of really great views today.” | 
Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolman) attacked on the final climb and easily won the first women's edition of Strade Bianche: “A win like this was long overdue, but on my father’s side, my great-great-great-grandparents are from Tuscany, so what better place to do it than here? It really hasn’t sunk in yet, and I’m sure I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and, like, did I really do that? It’s just an incredible race and to do it here is amazing. Everyone is really excited about this race. When it was announced, everyone started looking forward to it. A lot of women’s teams were here early to look at it and prepare. More races like this, please.” | 
Your Women's podium: 2nd Elizabeth Armitstead (GB/Boels Dolmans) + 37s, 1st Megan Guarnier (USA/Boels Dolmans) 2:59:17, 3rd Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/Wiggle Honda) + 37s | 
1-2 with Armitstead making it clear that Guarnier won |
Stage 2: Men's Race Full Results and Report
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Multiple past winner, Fabian Cancellara during the morning signing in | 
The rollout from San Gimignano, Italy | 
Eight men break | 
Break | 
Break on San Leonardo, first of ten gravel road sectors | 
Peter Sagan and the peloton on San Leonardo. Sagan mixed it up at the front of the race later on but faded at the finish. | 
Break | 
Peloton | 
Trek leading the chase | 
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Crash | 
Dusty road | 
Climbing the gravel | 
Descending the gravel | 
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Greg VAN AVERMAET (BEL /BMC RACING) attacking the three men break on Le Tolfe, the final gravel road, with 13 km to go | 
Zdenek STYBAR (CZE/ETIXX - QUICK STEP) and Alejandro VALVERDE (ESP/MOVISTAR) in pursuit several seconds back | 
Meanwhile, the crowd sips wine and waits for the race to arrive in Siena | 
The finish in Siena. From one World Heritage Site to another. | 
1st Zdenek STYBAR (CZE/ETIXX - QUICK STEP) passed 2nd Greg VAN AVERMAET (BEL /BMC RACING) at the top of the finishing climb into Siena | 
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Finish perspective. A fitting finish to a gorgeous race. | 
2nd Greg VAN AVERMAET (BEL /BMC RACING) + 2s | 
3rd Alejandro VALVERDE (ESP/MOVISTAR) + 18s | 
6th Oscar GATTO (ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI) + 59s and 7th Rigoberto URAN (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) | 
Race Infographic Summary courtesy of @hetiskoers | 
The winner and his prize: 1st Zdenek STYBAR (CZE/ETIXX - QUICK STEP) | 
More prizes | 
The podium ceremony under Mangia Tower in Piazza del Campo, Siena | 
Your 2015 Strade Bianche podium: 2nd Greg VAN AVERMAET (BEL /BMC RACING) + 2s, 1st Zdenek STYBAR (CZE/ETIXX - QUICK STEP) 5:22:13, 3rd Alejandro VALVERDE (ESP/MOVISTAR) + 18s | 
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Post race winner's press conference. Decisive break: “It was really difficult because I didn’t want to underestimate Greg, because he’s very explosive, but Valverde is a very big opponent, and with an uphill finish he was always going to be really, really strong, and of course he was waiting for the final climb. In the last 10km, I wasn’t sure how he felt, because when I had to close the gap on Greg, he didn’t want to help because he said he had cramp, but he couldn’t have followed Greg on the climb if he’d had cramp. But I it was really important not to underestimate either of them.”Final kilometer: “I was just staying on Alejandro [Valverde]’s wheel because I was expecting him to go first, to attack on the steepest part. But Greg surprised me when he attacked at the bottom and kept his speed to the top. I didn’t known whether to stay on his wheel or to stay with Alejandro, but in a millisecond I decided to go because I saw that Alejandro was dropping back. At the top I knew that I had to attack because whoever comes first with 200m to go wins. So I did. Finishing alone in the square in Siena is something I will never forget.” |
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