Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) won the Strade Bianche Women ahead of Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), becoming the third woman to win the race twice.
Van der Breggen had attacked into the final gravel sector, Le Tolfe, and was caught by Vollering, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez) on the steep gravel climb.
Vollering then made her move over the top, but Van der Breggen jumped onto her wheel immediately. On the run-in to Siena, they worked together to increase their advantage to 1:45 minutes at the flamme rouge.
Van der Breggen led the duo onto the Via Santa Caterina climb, but with 500 metres to go, Vollering launched a fierce attack to drop her former teammate and coach and win on the Piazza del Campo.
Ferrand-Prévot was the strongest rider of the chase group, distancing the others on the final kilometre to take third place.
"I knew I was good before the race, and everyone expected it from me, but then to do it is another thing. You have so much pressure and really want to finish it off, not only for yourself but for your teammates, family, and friends. To finish it off here like I did today, thanks to the work from all my teammates, I am super happy and proud," said Vollering at the finish line.
The 28-year-old’s first victory in Siena came in a sprint against her then-teammate Lotte Kopecky. This time, she beat her former teammate, coach and mentor, Van der Breggen.
"It’s fun to race against Anna, it feels like when I started, so it’s also a reminder for myself how much I have grown over the years," said Vollering, who didn't panic despite a strong front group of seven riders including Ferrand-Prévot having a sizeable gap coming into the final 23km.
"I was a bit like, 'is it going to be the same as Nieuwsblad again', but then Juliette [Labous] did a really strong lead-out on the gravel section [Colle Pinzuto] and I tried to attack there already, but my chain dropped, so that was a cross through that plan.
"I kept calm. Juliette was there and did a really strong lead-out again, and then I went again, full-gas. Anna did very smart by going already in the downhill, and she could stay with me, and I was hoping she worked with me because also for her it’s a nice opportunity. I’m grateful that it worked out."
How it unfolded
There was no early breakaway as the peloton tackled the 50.3km of gravel distributed over 13 sectors interspersed with stretches of asphalt for a total race distance of 136 kilometres.
Vollering suffered a puncture on the longest gravel sector, San Martino in Grania, but easily made it back to the peloton, which had been reduced to some 50 riders. An attack by Eva van Agt (Visma-Lease a Bike) led to a breakaway of seven that was caught on the Monteaperti sector. Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) and her teammate, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka, crashed on the descent that followed and had to abandon the race.
Femke Gerritse (SD Worx-Protime) attacked on the first passage of the Colle Pinzuto sector and kept a small gap on a chase group of six that was caught as they entered the Le Tolfe sector for the first time. Liane Lippert (Movistar Team) then brought the peloton of 19 riders back to Gerritse at the end of Le Tolfe, 42km from the finish.
Mavi García (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) initiated an attack on the plateau, taking Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck), Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez), and Gerritse with her. Ferrand-Prévot, Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal), and Marte Berg Edseth (Uno-X Mobility) bridged across to this quartet to form a front group of seven.
Ferrand-Prévot slid out in a downhill corner but was quickly back on her bike, and the group built an advantage of up to 1:25 minutes at the end of the Montechiaro sector. This was when Labous took up the chase in earnest, steadily reducing the gap to 30 seconds as they entered the Colle Pinzuto.
Gerritse could not follow the frontrunners anymore, and when Vollering made her move, only Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Labous could follow. But Vollering’s mechanical enabled Van der Breggen, Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly), and Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) to catch back up.
Labous went to the front of the group again to chase, and when the two groups merged with 16km to go, Muzic took responsibility for the pace. Van der Breggen positioned herself well to be first into the final gravel sector, Le Tolfe, opening a gap on the first descending half.
On the climb, Vollering, Ferrand-Prévot, and Labous bridged to Van der Breggen, and Vollering kept going over the top to open a gap. Only Van der Breggen managed to jump after her and get back into Vollering’s wheel.
Although more riders came back to Ferrand-Prévot and Labous, the front duo was in charge and steadily increased their advantage, making it clear that the victory would be decided between Vollering and Van der Breggen.
On the last kilometre, Van der Breggen set the pace on the lower slopes of the Via Santa Caterina climb, but Vollering left her former coach behind with a final attack to win.
Results
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