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Strade Bianche - Discussion
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 17-11-2025 02:24
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Directeur Sportif
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 Strade Bianche
There have been 16 editions of Strade Bianche and 16 different winners. For most of that time the puncheurs have dominated with some punchy sprinters thrown in. The last more cobbled classics rider to win was Nick Nuyens, all the way back in 2011, So long ago it is entirely possible he was not, in fact, a cobbled rider and this reporter would not know.
However, an all-new parcours this year and the organizers are saying those sections of white road are going to require a more balanced skill set. Time will tell if that is the case. At a 179k the race is still not that long, most of the white roads are clustered between the half way and two thirds mark. That should whittle the peloton down while the last section up the Colle Pinzuto about 13k before the end could be decisive.
Last year’s winner  Stannard returns to defend his crown, the only other returning winner is 2015 champion  Kelderman.
The contenders can be put into three groups, the puncheurs, the cobblers and those who can do both.
The All-Rounders
| Rider | FL | HI | AC | CO | RS | ST |  Habimana | 73 | 74 | 71 | 75 | 72 | 73 |  Benoot | 71 | 81 | 71 | 76 | 74 | 75 |  Gaday | 71 | 75 | 73 | 78 | 72 | 75 |  Jorgenson | 73 | 77 | 71 | 68 | 78 | 79 |  Van der Poel | 73 | 77 | 77 | 72 | 77 | 78 |  Polanc | 71 | 72 | 74 | 77 | 72 | 77 |
The Puncheurs
| Rider | FL | HI | AC | CO | RS | ST |  Lutsenko | 68 | 82 | 80 | 53 | 72 | 75 |  Hirschi | 71 | 81 | 75 | 66 | 78 | 78 | | Stannard | 73 | 81 | 78 | 67 | 76 | 75 |  Van Niekerk | 69 | 80 | 74 | 66 | 75 | 72 |  Gesbert | 71 | 80 | 73 | 62 | 78 | 80 | | Kelderman | 68 | 80 | 69 | 60 | 72 | 77 | | Boswell | 68 | 78 | 73 | 54 | 70 | 74 |  Bystrom | 71 | 78 | 75 | 55 | 71 | 74 | | Edmondson | 69 | 78 | 74 | 53 | 70 | 73 |  Jensen | 69 | 78 | 73 | 53 | 70 | 74 | | Morin | 70 | 78 | 76 | 63 | 73 | 75 | | Demare | 71 | 78 | 78 | 61 | 69 | 72 |
The Cobblers
| Rider | FL | HI | AC | CO | RS | ST | | Wisniowski | 78 | 69 | 73 | 81 | 73 | 72 | | Girmay | 77 | 71 | 76 | 79 | 76 | 76 |  Zepuntke | 72 | 69 | 65 | 82 | 72 | 79 |  Orue | 69 | 64 | 58 | 78 | 70 | 77 |  Daniel | 71 | 67 | 69 | 78 | 73 | 73 |  Moulingui | 74 | 71 | 68 | 78 | 71 | 71 |
If cobbles skill matters then Benoot is the obvious favorite for this race as the one rider who brings both top end climbing and cobbling skills. The concern for him will be that the Viano experience repeats, that others will look to him to do all the work and his team won’t be up to it. Gaday is the inverse of Benoot in that cobbles are his top skill, if that plays up he might be in at the finale. Jorgenson and Van der Poel might be the strongest names in this group other than Benoot. They don’t have top end skills either in the hills or the cobbles but both have very strong secondaries and Jorgenson will be well served if ability on the longer climbs plays up. He established his credentials on this kind of course with some great rides in Viano. While Bolt-Esti will be hoping Van der Poel has learned his lesson from Viano.
Amongst the puncheurs Lutsenko is the strongman but with his very weak cobbled skills he will need to have his wits about him on the white roads. Defending champion Stannard is a more balanced riders while Van Niekerk and Hirschi might not have the punch to match Stannard into Siena, they do have great climbing skills and not the worst ability on the white roads. Gesbert is the other top climber, he is having a great season so far and will hope his secondaries will be enough to balance out his weak cobbles skills.
Among the cobblers future legend Girmay is perhaps the best suited to the parcours. Zepuntke is another strong cobbler here, his skill set is nice one for this race and maybe he has found his groove with Ekoi. Assa Abloy have covered both bases with Wisniowski joining Gesbert, now if they could just merge those two riders . . . .
A full slate of 24 8-rider teams comes to the race.
Startlist
 
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 17-11-2025 03:00
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Grand Tour Champion
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Keen for this one! Kelderman could do well here but other options are Edmondson and Duyvesteyn. Even Bennett could surprise in this type of race but I don't think the climbs are long enough for him.
Really keen to see this one! Good luck everyone!
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| Heine |
Posted on 17-11-2025 06:07
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4461
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Will be very interesting to see this one, a pretty unique race
I feel I have read somewhere that Downhill stat counts on gravel, but not sure if that is the case
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| Caspi |
Posted on 17-11-2025 07:09
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Domestique
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After seeing the startlist, I don't think there's much we can do here. Hopefully, we'll ride for Meurisse, but if he just achieves some points we'll be satisfied.
Reassessing, we should have brought McKenna, however it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference.
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| Marcovdw |
Posted on 17-11-2025 07:17
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Grand Tour Champion
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With the uncertainties of the gravel influence it is a bit of a risk to bring Aidan here, but it might very well be the perfect match
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 17-11-2025 07:22
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2129
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Benoot should be the man to beat here, I reckon. Decided to hedge my bets and send both Gesbert and Wisniowski, but I fear Gesbert might be too little of a cobbler and Wisniowski too little of a puncheur.
Thanks for the preview!
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| Ollfardh |
Posted on 17-11-2025 07:51
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 15023
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Gravel roads in Strade??? We have to go back!
Changed my sig, this was getting absurd.
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 17-11-2025 08:43
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3484
Joined: 23-07-2008
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without getting the wrath from Heine!, this time Basso literally has no chance too much climbing here hoping someone manages a random top 30 but no hopes |
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 17-11-2025 09:55
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Sprinter
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jt1109 wrote:
without getting the wrath from Heine!, this time Basso literally has no chance too much climbing here hoping someone manages a random top 30 but no hopes
You totally spoiled this race, now we know that Basso wins it ...
It will be interesting to follow the fight for 2nd though with so many different rider types in the mix and no real experiences how the new profile and game version will treat them. Here's hope Zepuntke won't disappoint to much and even if he does he doesn't take Louvel with him.
Thanks for the preview and also for covering the race, Ulrich!
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 17-11-2025 10:18
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Sprinter
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I don't expect much from Daniel here. Curious to see how it will play out though 
Thanks UU for the preview!
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 08:36
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| Mresuperstar |
Posted on 17-11-2025 12:15
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Grand Tour Champion
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Little concerning that Magnus Sheffield was given the leader's bib for our team. No idea how Jorgenson is going to perform, basically sent him here on a whim and a hope after some decent podium results in Viano the last few years. Should be fun!
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 17-11-2025 13:12
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3219
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Probably made a mistake in not sending Kaspa here but it is what is, wanted the game to focus on Quita and prep showed that he should be able to top 10 it, but we will see!
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| quadsas |
Posted on 17-11-2025 15:57
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2727
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Should be an easy W for Lutsenko
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 17-11-2025 19:08
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Team Leader
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This could be a race very well suited to Gaday's skill set in which he's fighting for a podium or he could fall outside the Top 10. Fingers crossed he can put up a good fight and get us a memorable result
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| jaxika |
Posted on 17-11-2025 20:36
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Classics Specialist
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After Viano idk what to say. Just hope for the best |
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| Heine |
Posted on 18-11-2025 12:29
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4461
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Great win by Van der Poel! Congrats
Thanks for the report UU
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| quadsas |
Posted on 18-11-2025 13:03
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Small Tour Specialist
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Unlucky, but some points nonetheless
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 18-11-2025 13:08
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3484
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expected performance don't quite have the right mix of rider for this one!
Great win by MVP and awesome report UU |
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 18-11-2025 13:40
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Sprinter
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Great report UU, really fun to read and congrats jph!
We can’t complain with Oliveira in P17. On to the next one!
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| Sykkel_Freak |
Posted on 18-11-2025 14:10
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Small Tour Specialist
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Thanks for the great report, UU!
Really great team effort once again with 4 riders inside the top 25. Bringing both Gesbert and Wisniowski luckily paid off. None of them were strong enough to compete for a podium, but that was to be expected on this terrain. Congrats to Bolt on the win!
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