Welcome to Tuscany, where "Europe's southernmost northern classic" awaits the riders - and us! It's a mostly sunny day, but given that we're only in March, we still have some pretty fresh temperatures around 15°.
Given that it's dry today, the many gravel sections shouldn't be too much of an issue for the riders - in contrast to the "real" northern classics, bike handling is much less of a needed skill today. Instead, the course leading from Siena to Siena - visiting a lot of the hilly Crete Senesi area - will demand puncheur skills and a good physical condition, with countless shorter and longer hills and almost 200 kilometers of total race distance.
We've been talking about the most probable winners yesterday already, and the official favorites list doesn't differ by much. As expected, Kinoshita, Areruya and Beltran top the list. Jensen, Boswell and Van Garderen get two stars - apparently, the bookmakers think that good stamina will indeed be a deciding factor today. Benoot, Borges and Waeytens also get on the list - alongside Aranburu, the only slightly surprising name. Instead, both Paulinho and Prevar miss out let's see if they prove the experts wrong!
Let's first take a look at what happened so far, before jumping into the live action:
What happened so far
Only a couple of spectators found their way to the start line. We'll likely see more of them in about 5 hours, with the riders approaching Siena again for the decisive kilometers!
As we said before, it was partly cloudy this morning, perfect weather for a nice cycling race!
As soon as the race was on, we had plenty of attackers. First off were Sweeck, Skala and Magnusson. Soon after, Rubio and Moulingui escaped from the pack as well, with Arashiro leading the latter, yet not really insisting.
Blouwe and Munyaneza preferred a quicker pace as well, just like Venturini and Menicucci. That made 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 9 escapees after roughly 10 kilometers.
This wasn't all, though, as attacks continued to occur pretty frequently. Colleoni was the first solo attacker, soon chased after by Mengoulas and Gallopin.
Attacking as a duo seemed to be the most promising form, as Nielsen and Miquel did the same as the peloton entered the first gravel section.
And indeed, a double duo - Van Gils, Finkler, Yudha and Vanbilsen - seemed to be too much at once for the peloton, as Granigan vetoed this move. However, the latter 3 directly attacked again, and this time the pack didn't respond. We don't know whether that was a personal thing between Granigan and Van Gils, or if 4 was just 1 too many.
There weren't any additional attacks, and so this was the situation heading into one of the many gravel road hills. The first 5 attackers had already regrouped, and the others would soon join them to form a large breakaway of 17 riders. In case you don't remember all the names, here they are again:
Magnusson
Gallopin
Rubio
Yudha
Moulingui
Munyaneza
Menicucci
Mengoulas
Miquel
Finkler
Sweeck
Skala
Venturini
Blouwe
Colleoni
Nielsen
Vanbilsen
None of them clearly sticks out, all have hill skills between 67 and 72 stat points - let's say that depending on daily form anyone could come out on top here.
However, the peloton clearly wouldn't like to have any of the breakaway riders winning today. In the first half of the race, we mainly had those riders setting a steady pace:
Papanov, Vermeersch, Galvan Ramirez, Arashiro, Poljanec, Voisard, Granigan and Sulvaran.
They allowed the gap to reach the 4 minutes mark, but not much more.
The Montalcino climb was the toughest one of the day, with gradients exceeding 20%! This was where we had the first split in the big breakaway, and although they came back together soon after, we got an idea of who had good legs and who didn't.
In the peloton - still 4 minutes back at this points - some of the favorites also were present close to the front, clearly trying to avoid any stupid gaps to close afterwards. Areruya, Beltran, Kinoshita and Boswell are the favorites visible here.
The Vignoni climb marked about the end of the first half of the race, and Vermeersch had clearly been pushing a bit more before, reducing the gap to 3 minutes.
This also was the point where the peloton lost the first couple of riders - no really big names, but still some decent domestiques like Gaspar, Silva, Kolar and even Poljanski!
Some 20km later, former winner Bellis also had to bid his potential ambitions goodbye, as more and more riders were dropped. Local hero Zordan was one of the other main names, alongside Stuyven.
With 75km to go, the 17 riders breakaway only had an advantage of 1'22" left, and there were 116 riders remaining in the peloton. And now, let's jump into the live action!
LIVE +++ LIVE +++ LIVE
The escapees are at the foot of the final long climb of the day - but they will have realized by now that they won't stand a chance against a raging pack. Rubio is currently leading them, while Papanov is setting a horrendous pace in the peloton just 1'05" behind!
The peloton is really stretched out on that descent, and we expect to see some further splits occurring on that next climb!
Indeed - we're only half way up, but the peloton has shed another 40 riders already! Slagter is one of the biggest surprises to be distanced so early - especially given that he hasn't done any domestique work earlier on. Fabbro, Azman, Duchesne, Asgreen, Eriksson and Felline are other strong puncheurs distanced early on, in addition to those mentioned earlier.
It's now Tesfaye Heyi sprinting uphill and pulling the entire pack with him, as we approach the top of the climb. Vanbilsen and Miquel are the first riders dropped from the breakaway, and they should be caught pretty soon.
Still 60 kilometers left, and only 54 riders left in the pack in what looks to be a grueling race of attrition!
There are some more surprising casualties on this climb, as we also see Mas and Chernetskiy having lost contact and trailing already by 2 minutes! Raileanu, Bratashcuk and Paez are other names in those gapped groups.
But instead of naming all those who couldn't keep up anymore, let's rather mention the 32 riders who still are in the peloton with slightly more than 50km to go:
Bilbao
Dieteren
Boily
Arndt
Scheit
Waeytens
Calmejane
Vanbilsen
Paulinho
Lienhard
Oliveira
Areruya
Tesfaye Heyi
Beltran
Gaudu
Benoot
Velasco
Van Garderen
Pellaud
Prevar
Budyak
Jensen
Aranburu
Kinoshita
Chaves
Boswell
Borges
De Plus
Meurisse
Gesbert
Gebrezgabihier
Miquel
They trail the 15 breakaway riders - the initial escapees minus Vanbilsen and Miquel - by 50".
Not much has changed as the two groups reach the top of the Colombaio hill - except that the helpers in the pack are starting to look really tired. Which is probably why they haven't caught the escapees yet.
Blouwe and Moulingui are the next breakaway riders to blouwe up - let's see who will be the last man standing!
With 38km to go, the front of the race is about to hit the next sharp hill, but right before it we have Yudha, Gallopin and Venturini attacking! Their breakaway companions have a 10" gap, the peloton is another 55" behind and couldn't really reduce their deficit on the last 10 kilometers!
But Yudha, who initiated the move, can't follow the French duo! The situation with 35km to go looks as follows:
Gallopin
Venturini
+ 22"
Yudha
+ 22" (+ 44")
Menicucci
Mengoulas
Finkler
Skala
Rubio
Munyaneza
Magnusson
Sweeck
Nielsen
Colleoni
+ 36" (+ 1'20")
Peloton
30 riders
+ 1'40" (+ 3'00")
Chernetskiy
Van Niekerk
Mas
Hirschi
+ 27 riders
Indeed, only 30 riders are left in the peloton; breakaway riders Vanbilsen and Moulingui are dropped, as well as domestiques Tesfaye Heyi and Budyak.
With 33km to go, the riders are on the Monte Sante Marie climb - and the gravel section containing it is called "Settore Cancellara", after a guy who won this race three times in a parallel universe.
Rubio has been dropped from the breakaway lately, and the remaining group of 9 are about to catch Yudha. Venturini and Gallopin are still going strong and have extended their lead to a minute!
Magnusson also had to let go on this climb; him and Rubio are about to be caught by the remainders of the peloton. Blouwe and Miquel have been dropped from the latter, so there are currently 28 riders in the pack, before catching the two breakaway riders.
Venturini also can't keep up with Gallopin's pace anymore, the Assa Abloy is looking really strong today!
And he's actually riding really fast, having extended his lead by more than a minute on the peloton in the last 5 kilometers - the latter is trailing by 2'37" now!
It somehow went missing today, but here should be the 20km arc - and no, it's not due to strong winds, as there are none. Gallopin is still making some good progress, having gained a couple more seconds on the pack. Here are the current timings:
Gallopin
+ 54"
Venturini
+ 1'00" (+ 1'54")
Menicucci
Mengoulas
Finkler
Skala
Munyaneza
Sweeck
Nielsen
Colleoni
Yudha
+ 47" (+ 2'41")
Peloton
30 riders
20 kilometers, more than 2'30" - can Gallopin even pull off an unlikely upset win? There are still some nasty hills left, though, let's see how much he still has in the tank!
5 uphill sections are left, the first one with about 15km to go. Gallopin has almost reached the hilltop already, while Venturini and the group of 9 are about to start the climb only.
Gallopin has 1'20" to his closest follower, and now even 3 minutes on the pack! The big surprise is getting more and more likely - unless the big guns finally step into action themselves!
Currently, we have Velasco, Scheit, Pellaud and Gaudu setting the pace - and all of them look completely empty!
Good news for the peloton, though, as Waeytens has decided to sacrifice Calmejane now! The Frenchman is setting a monstrous pace to reduce the deficit to his compatriot - and he's clearly making an impact! The group of 9 is almost caught, and Gallopin's advantage has been reduced to 2'12" in no time!
Velasco is the only rider having been dropped by the pack lately, after having worked a lot for Benoot!
12 kilometers to go, and Calmejane has already overtaken the entire 9 rider group! Meaning that only Venturini and Gallopin remain up front - the former by 25", the latter still by 1'50"!
2km later - forget about the 20km, that should read 10km - and Calmejane has also swept up Venturini! And Gallopin looks to be done as well, as the pack's deficit is down to 51"!
It isn't over yet, though - let's see how long Calmejane can still sustain that incredible speed!
Not very long, actually, and then it's definitely the top contenders who have to take over! Beltran leads the chase with 7.5km to go, with Areruya, Prevar, Kinoshita and Van Garderen close to the front, too!
Calmejane still has a 36" lead, though - but two more hills ahead as well...
By the way, only 24 riders are left in the peloton - let's name them, according to their current positions in the pack (left to right, top to bottom):
Beltran
Areruya
Prevar
Kinoshita
Van Garderen
Arndt
Waeytens
Calmejane
Jensen
Aranburu
Dieteren
Benoot
Gebrezgabihier
Bilbao
Chaves
Boily
Paulinho
Lienhard
De Plus
Boswell
Borges
Oliveira
Meurisse
Gesbert
Some of the favorites rather move up a couple of spots soon, or they might get caught behind another split!
With 7km to go, it's Areruya launching the first attack from the peloton! He's closely followed by Prevar, Kinoshita and Van Garderen, though.
However, Beltran easily shuts that move down.
Gallopin is giving all he has left to stay ahead of that group over the top of the third-to-last hill - but with 6.4km left and two more uphill sections that looks rather hopeless.
Areruya is still insisting, and indeed a gap seems to be opening behind Benoot who now is in 7th position! In between are Prevar, Kinoshita, Van Garderen, Beltran and Jensen.
Gebrezgabihier, Bilbao and Borges are fighting to follow the front 7, while Boily is really struggling to do so further behind!
However, Borges does not only catch them on a flatter section, but immediately counter-attacks flying past an exhausted Gallopin with 5km to go! Bilbao is trying to take his wheel, while Boily still hasn't completed the catch.
The second group of favorites is just about 20" behind as well, so nothing is decided yet!
Borges and Bilbao are indeed getting a small gap - but the Portugues looks rather empty as well once reaching the top of the Bolgione climb. Gebrezgabihier is trying to ride away from the top favorites as well, with Benoot being the first one to react!
Further down the road, we see that Boily has definitely made the catch - and so have Calmejane, Oliveira, Chaves, Meurisse, Gesbert, De Plus, Waeytens, Paulinho, Arndt and Boswell.
The only ones having been in the peloton recently and now definitely out of it are Lienhard, Dieteren and Aranburu.
Kinoshita on the move! The top favorite attacks over the second-last hilltop, with 4km to go - and everyone is struggling to hang on! Van Garderen is closest, then Areruya, Benoot and Beltran, with Borges and Bilbao seemingly uninterested!
But they still follow the move, and so we have a front group of 7 right ahead the left turn leading us onto the final 1,500 meters of the race! A steep uphill section awaits the riders, and one of these 7 is likely to take the win, the others probably being too far behind!
Kinoshita leads ahead of last year's 3rd placed Van Garderen, Areruya, former winner Borges, Benoot, Bilbao and Beltran - let's see if the latter can make up all those spots until the finish line, or if the first position is the best!
Prevar is almost looking like he's already sat up, leading the second group ahead of Boily, Jensen and Waeytens.
Nope, that's not really the 5km banner, but rather the red kite! 1 kilometer left, with Kinoshita still leading but being closely followed by Van Garderen!
The order behind them is still the same - Areruya, Borges, Benoot, Bilbao and Beltran - although the last two seem to have a small gap to make up for already!
700 meters to go, and Kinoshita is still looking really strong! However, the same can be said of Van Garderen, Areruya and Borges, while Benoot seems to struggle with the strong acceleration of those ahead!
Beltran is still behind Bilbao and doesn't look to be competing for the win today!
Prevar leads the second group 28" behind, still ahead of Boily, Jensen and Waeytens.
Beltran actually looks to be struggling to even keep up with Bilbao! Up front, Kinoshita is still leading with the finish line already in sight, but he can't gap Van Garderen so far.
But it's actually Borges who is the first to crack - and he cracked really hard! Which means we still won't get a two-times winner in this race!
Instead, Kinoshita might win it for the first time - but Van Garderen is looking stronger on the last couple of meters!
Areruya is moving fast as well - but so is Benoot, who came from rather far behind but seems to be fighting for a podium now!
Kinoshita is done as well, and Areruya doesn't have much left in the tank as well - so now it looks to be between Van Garderen and Benoot on the last 200 meters!
Or can Beltran launch his turbo and fly past everyone, having moved up to 5th now?
Borges is clearly going in the other direction and will hope to stay ahead of the second group at least!
Only 100 meters left, and we still have the fight Van Garderen vs. Benoot for the win! We also have the duels Kinoshita vs. Areruya for 3rd, and likely Beltran vs. Bilbao for 5th!
Tejay Van Garderen wins! The Sauber Petronas rider had the perfect wheel going into the final climb, and was just able to fend off Tiesj Benoot's late charge!
Tomohiro Kinoshita did most of the work on the final kilometers - only to be pipped to the line by Joseph Areruya and ending up on a disappointing 4th place! Heartbreaking!
While Van Garderen is still celebrating, Eduard Alexander Beltran limits the damage to take 5th place ahead of a strong Pello Bilbao. Disappointing for the Colombian, a strong result by the Spaniard.
Further behind, we see a completely empty Borges being overhauled by the 2nd group - where Jensen has now taken the lead from Prevar! Gesbert and Meurisse are surprisingly strong as well - stronger than many of the pre-race favorites!
Kristian Haugaard Jensen easily wins the sprint for 7th place, edging out Oleksandr Prevar on the final 200 meters. Rui Oliveira had an amazing finish, fully playing out his sprinting advantage, and getting a great 9th place! Elie Gesbert then rounds off the Top 10.
Meurisse, Waeytens and a very disappointed Borges are next, ahead of Boily, Chaves, Paulinho and De Plus.
Boswell ends up getting the worst result of the 80+ puncheurs presented in the preview, finishing 20th only, alongside Calmejane. Ahead of him we see Arndt who finished 19th, while Gebrezgabihier in 18th place went unnoticed by the cameras.
By the way, last breakaway survivor Gallopin held onto a strong 22nd place - respect!
But the big winner of the day is obviously Tejay Van Garderen! The older, the better - maybe that's still only true for vines, but at least the American didn't get much worse lately! After taking 3rd place last year, he capitalized on the absence of last year's Top 2 by taking the win! Congratulations!
Runner-up Tiesj Benoot can be happy as well, taking revenge for a rather disappointing result in Viana do Castelo, showing that he doesn't actually need cobbled roads to shine! Well done by the Philips man as well!
And in 3rd place, we finally have the first of the Top 3 favorites in Joseph Areruya - with Kinoshita and Beltran taking 4th and 5th. So the top trio finished together, just beaten by two "outsiders". At least for the Rwandan, it should be an acceptable result; for the two others missing out on the podium must be disappointing.
But that's cycling - if everything was predictable in advance, the riders wouldn't need to bother racing, and we'd have much less fun! It was a great race to watch, and we hope you enjoyed it as well! Arrivederci!
Strade Bianche 
