Strade Bianche 2024: favorites, timetables and how to watch

The Strade Bianche 2024 will once again gather some of the heavyweights of the peloton on the first weekend of March. The organizers have designed a route of 215 kilometers of which 71 kilometers -15 sections- will be gravel. The riders will now have to face a circuit with a double pass through Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe before heading towards Siena.

Strade Bianche 2024: the sterrato takes center stage in a race that overflows with personality

Despite being a race with little history -created in 2007-, the Strade Bianche has earned a privileged place in the imagination of fans. The sterrato sections have given it an unmistakable stamp, the beautiful Tuscan landscapes have given it a pictorial beauty and the exciting outcomes have put the icing on a race destined to be memorable.

The cycling calendar is advancing and there is less and less time for the spring classics to arrive. The changes that the Strade Bianche 2024 presents, with more mileage and more gravel, will reopen the debate on whether the Tuscan unpaved roads deserve to be part of The Monuments.

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Strade Bianche 2024 Schedule

Both the men's and women's races will be held on March 2nd. These are the schedules (with * the estimates).

Saturday, March 2 - Men's race

11:10h Start

14:40h* Monte Sante Marie

16:45h* End

Saturday, March 2 - Women's race

9:35h Start

12:20h* First pass through Le Tolfe

13:40h* End

A unique race: the Strade Bianche 2024 will be longer and with more gravel

The Strade Bianche 2024 will have a different touch. For the first time, the 200-kilometer route will be exceeded and more sterrato will be added in a loop shortly before arriving in Siena. Specifically, this year's route will be 215 km -of which 71 km spread over 15 sections will be on gravel-; to put it in context, last year there were 184 km total with 63 km of gravel in 11 sections. The women's race will have 137 km with 40 km of gravel in 12 sections.

The race starts and ends in Siena. The riders will have to pedal through a winding and undulating route that will concentrate prolonged climbs on the sterrato sections. The first ascent will take place already in the second section and, after a first part of varied effort race, the hardest part will come: Ponte del Garbo (11.5 km almost always uphill) where the famous Monte Sante Marie is located.

The organization has designed a 30 km loop that starts in Vico d'Arbia, goes through Colle Pinzuto (with slopes of 15%) and Le Tolfe (with maximums of 18%). This will be followed by an assault part, more sterrato and again Vico d'Arbia, Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe. From here, 10 km to the traditional finish in Siena via Via Santa Caterina and Piazza del Campo.

The cycling manager of RCS Sport, Mauro Vegni, explained that "this year we wanted to make some changes to the route, and that's why we have created this double circuit, which will increase the difficulty and mileage of both races" and added that "every year, this event gives us strong emotions and great cycling moments."

For his part, the CEO and General Manager of RCS Sport, Paolo Bellino, stated that we will see "the great stars of women's and men's cycling, with start lists that are as good as those of Monument Classics. The aces of the two wheels are increasingly considering this race as one of their seasonal objectives and we can only be happy about it".

The list of favorites to conquer the sterrato of the Strade Bianche 2024

Without confirming the final list of participants, the presence of some riders in the Strade Bianche 2024 is already known. As expected, several big names from the peloton will meet in Siena and will raise the level of a race that has all the ingredients to provide a great show.

The most outstanding cyclist is Tadej Pogacar who, after being absent last year, will try to replicate the triumphant success he achieved in 2022. The Slovenian is a favorite in any race he presents and the Strade Bianche 2024 will be no exception. Thomas Pidcock will arrive after the mud of cyclocross and is another of the great candidates for victory, after the enormous victory he achieved last year.

Other high-level riders -with more or less options to reign over the sterrato- will be Michal Kwiatowski, Julian Alaphilippe, Tim Wellens or Kasper Asgreen; as well as some heavyweights like Rui Costa, Geraint Thomas or Richard Carapaz,

In addition, there will be many other high-level debutants who will step on the sterrato for the first time, such as Juan Ayuso, Guillaume Martin, Laporte, Kelemen or Johannessen.

How to watch Strade Bianche 2024

After last weekend's overdose of races that forced Eurosport to make pirouettes to fit all the broadcasts, having to relegate the Omloop Het Niewsblad to its digital platform, the Strade Bianche will be available again for everyone with the broadcast of the race on Eurosport 2 channel as well as through its app without advertising. The race will be available between 12:00 and 14:00 in the case of the women's race while the men's race will be rebroadcast at the end of the race, from 14:00 until the finish.