On a day that saw miserable weather dominate the middle section of the race, the black clouds continued as BORA-hansgrohe’s Peter Sagan was forced to retire from the race due to illness. The UCI World Champion started the day, keen not to disappoint his fans, but as the day went on, and in spite of staying in contention, the Slovak rider made the decision to protect his health ahead of some demanding races.
The first of the Italian one-day races, the Strade Bianche follows a stunning route, starting and finishing in the beautiful city of Siena. Moving into the stunning Tuscany landscape, the 175km course famously traverses eleven gravel sectors that give the race its name. These sectors themselves are challenging, but the parcours itself is undulating and puts real strain on the riders. While the hills themselves aren’t the most difficult riders will face this season, the fact there’s barely a flat section between the start and finish, along with the difficulty of staying upright on the famed ‘white roads’, means it’s a race of bike handling, strength, stamina and tactics in equal measure.
Eager to gain an advantage as soon as possible, the attacks came thick and fast from the drop of the flag. In spite of their best intentions, a break didn’t form until 25km of racing – and even then it took some time to build an advantage on the peloton.
In spite of managing to stay with the chasing group, even after being hindered by a crash and subsequent pile-up at 75km, the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, made the difficult decision to retire from the race after 95km. While this was disappointing for the Slovak rider, he had been suffering for a few days but insisted on racing for the fans who had travelled to the race. “I haven’t been feeling well for the past three days, and when I woke up this morning I was feeling weak and had a sore throat. However, the Strade Bianche is a prestigious race and I started today out of respect for the thousands of Italian fans who came to watch. I started and tried to do my best and race as much as I could. Around 75km after the start, I got tangled in a big pile-up and suffered a deep cut in my finger that will probably require a couple of stitches, as well as a hit to my left knee. I went on, but at 95km I decided to retire.”
While hoping to finish the race, Peter knew that there are other important races to come, and wanted to ensure he recovers his health for these. “My decision wasn’t due to the crash, but simply because I wasn’t feeling well. I hope to recover as soon as possible and be able to perform at my best in the upcoming races.”
“Today everything went wrong for us. Marcus was involved in a big crash and had to wait for a car to change is bike, his race was more or less over at that point. Peter also crashed a little later. After sector 8 we thought about starting to pull on the front, because the gap was just 40 seconds at that time, but Peter came than back to the car and said he doesn’t feel good. So we decided together with him that it’s better to stop. Gregor, Christoph and Jay did fight hard then, but unfortunately we did not have the legs today to do a good result”, said Enrico Poitschke, sports director, after the finish.
While the weather had held off for much of the early stages of the race, as the leaders reached the final 40km, the rain came in, making the roads – and specifically, the gravel sections – slippery and wet. The route remained damp for the final 20km. The more experienced classics riders made the most of the conditions and started attacking as the race neared its final 10km, crowned by an audacious solo attack that managed to stick until the end it was M. Kwiatkowski to take the 10th edition of the Strade Bianche.
Peter will now concentrate on his recovery ahead of Tirreno Adriatico – known as the ‘Race of the Two Seas’, riders will face seven stages taking place between the Italian Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Next to Peter Sagan also Rafal Majka then will be in the line-up and ready to fight for the one or other stage win.
