For the the second weekend in a row, SD Worx has gone one-two at a spring classic, bossing Saturday’s Strade Bianche Donne in Sienna, Italy. Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky were the fastest in Tuscany, yanking back soloist Kristen Faulkner on the final climb and Vollering prevailed in the sprint. Alison Jackson was top Canadian in 40th.
The Course
Eight of the 11 sectors of the men’s route are shared with the Donne course, a total of 31.4 km of the 136 km. The longest stretch of gravel was Sector 5, 9.5 km with a kilometre climb of 6.9 percent to finish. Three sectors were in the final 24 km, the last with 12 km remaining. In Siena, with 900 metres to the finish line, the race route passed beneath Fontebranda Gate where the road turned to cobbles. The gradient kicked up to 10 percent until 500 metres from the line, with a maxiumum gradient of 16 percent along Via Santa Caterina.
🚨 Race Info 🚨#StradeBianche
🇮🇹 Siena, 9.30 CET
🏁 Siena, 13.30 CET
🚴♀️ 136 km
🚜 8 ‘Settori Sterrati’, 31.6 km in total
🌤️ 13°C, 0% 🌧️
🌬️ 5-15 km/h Northeast
📺 Live from 11.30 CET
💻 Liveticker from 9.30 CET:https://t.co/71NToJZv0l#UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/YRD8QamILL— UCI_WWT (@UCI_WWT) March 4, 2023
The Canadian contingent was Olivia Baril of UAE Team ADQ and the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB duo of Alison Jackson and Sara Poidevin.
The first escape was reeled in before the first sector of sterrati, and after the first three sectors, the peloton was intact but stretched out under Canyon-SRAM’s work. A quartet launched before long Sector 5 but didn’t survive the gravel there.
No move went clear on Sector 5 but after Sector 6 a lone Jumbo-Visma rider flared out to try her luck. Eventually American Kristen Faulkner bridged over. The Jayco-AlUla rider then went solo on the final sectors of gravel.
♀️🚴♀️ @FaulknerKristen prova il tutto per tutto con una cavalcata solitaria. 23 km all’arrivo.
Live: https://t.co/4SJIZuRQ97♀️🚴♀️ @FaulknerKristen tries everything with a solo ride. 23 km to go.
Live: https://t.co/y8Up7Fp6rk#StradeBianche pic.twitter.com/jo5oHsa4Sr— Strade Bianche (@StradeBianche) March 4, 2023
Vollering lit out after Faulkner on the last sector. With 12 km to go Kopecky burst out of Group 3. The SD Worx duo came together and set about running down the American.
It took the final climb to doom Faulkner’s bid for glory. She was…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…