History, halted for more than four months, resumed on Saturday, August 1 — and how symbolic that it happened at Strade Bianche, the race born to be a monument!
The long-awaited race was held with the strictest possible epidemiological safety measures.
Strade Bianche 2020 – 14th Edition – Siena – Siena 184 km – 01/08/2020 – Vincenzo Nibali (ITA – Trek – Segafredo) – photo Luca Bettini/BettiniPhoto©2020
Even a quick glance at the team line-ups aroused enormous interest. Stars of almost every generation of the modern WorldTour peloton lined up at the start.
Strade Bianche 2020 – 14th Edition – Siena – Siena 184 km – 01/08/2020 – Scenery – Lucignano d’Asso – photo Luca Bettini/BettiniPhoto©2020
At this time of year the air temperature in Tuscany reaches 40 degrees, and the race proved extremely hard. In the last quarter of the distance a breakaway group formed with such a line-up that it became clear the winner would be among them.
Strade Bianche 2020 – 14th Edition – Siena – Siena 184 km – 01/08/2020 – Wout Poels (NED – Bahrain – McLaren) – Davide Formolo (ITA – UAE – Team Emirates) – Jakob Fuglsang (DEN – Astana Pro Team) – Greg Van Avermaet (BEL – CCC Team) – Maximilian Schachmann (GER – Bora – Hansgrohe) – Alberto Bettiol (ITA – EF Pro Cycling) – photo Luca Bettini/BettiniPhoto©2020
Later the leading group shrank to four: only Wout van Aert, Davide Formolo, Maximilian Schachmann and Alberto Bettiol kept up the fight for the coveted title.
The 25-year-old Belgian from the Dutch team Jumbo-Visma, riding a legendary Bianchi, who came to the road from cyclocross — where he won the World Championships three times — already had bitter experience on the white roads. The last two years he had to settle for third place, and last year his legs “stopped” on the legendary climb in Siena’s narrow streets. As you know, experience at such a time, if properly understood, is a big plus.
This time Wout decided not to wait for the streets of Siena and attacked much earlier, well before the final climb. At such moments this can prove fatal, because if you can’t shake off your rivals, you’ll have nothing left in your legs at the finish.
Strade Bianche 2020 – 14th Edition – Siena – Siena 184 km – 01/08/2020 – Wout Van Aert (BEL – Team Jumbo – Visma) – photo Luca Bettini/BettiniPhoto©2020
Among the chasers, Bettiol was the first to throw in the towel; Maxi and Davide gave everything to the end, but on Saturday there was no one in the peloton who could beat van Aert.
Strade Bianche 2020 – 14th Edition – Siena – Siena 184 km – 01/08/2020 – Davide Formolo (ITA – UAE – Team Emirates) – Maximilian Schachmann (GER – Bora – Hansgrohe) – photo Dario Belingheri/BettiniPhoto©2020
Wout van Aert fulfilled his dream and made good on last year’s words in the very next year — he had said that one day he would definitely be first here!
Strade Bianche 2020 – 14th Edition – Siena – Siena 184 km – 01/08/2020 – Davide Formolo (ITA – UAE – Team Emirates) – Wout Van Aert (BEL – Team Jumbo – Visma) – photo Luca Bettini/BettiniPhoto©2020
This year’s women’s race was won by the unbeaten reigning world champion, the Dutchwoman Annemiek van Vleuten!
Strade Bianche 2020 Women – 14th Edition – Siena – Siena 136 km – 01/08/2020 – Annemiek Van Vleuten
/Mitchelton – Scott) – photo Valerio Pagni/BettiniPhoto©2020
The race really did take place, and its sporting side raised no doubts anyway. It seems that from an epidemiological point of view, too, everything ended at the proper level!
History goes on!
Featured image: ROBERTO and LUCA BETTINI/www.bettiniphoto.net
Inside post thumbnail image: ROBERTO and LUCA BETTINI/www.bettiniphoto.net
Special thanks to the Italian photographers ROBERTO and LUCA BETTINI for permission to use their watermarked works in our publications.
Translated from Georgian with the assistance of Claude (Anthropic), reviewed by the Velorbola editors.
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