My skin was sore from the dust and sweat! Liv Jayco AlUla rider Mavi Garcia talks about an eventful Strade Bianche cycle race
One of the more established Spring Classics in the women's cycle racing calendar, Strade Bianche, is always a much-anticipated competition, despite it being one of the most unpredictable races, where luck comes into play as much as, if not more than form.
Europe's "most Southern of the Northern Classics" race, based in Tuscany, is a hilly 136km starting and finishing in Siena and taking in 13 sectors of gravelly, unsurfaced white roads, known as strade bianche or sterrati totalling 50km.
Some of the sterrati go up steep gradients of up to 15%, with the most infamous ones being Colle Pinzuto, and Le Tolfe. In a change from last year the riders were treated to two loops of these stiff challenges. Also new for this year was the arduous 9.3km Serravalle sector, which immediately preceded a stretch of a similar distance at San Martino in Grania.
To add a sting in the tail is the 9% gradient on the cobbled climb up Via Santa Caterina to reach the finish line in Piazza del Campo. This historic square in the centre of Siena plays host to other well-known slightly crazy, off-beat events - notably Il Palio - a 90-second horse race around the Piazza in front of thousands of cheering fans. Strade Bianche is the cycling equivalent.
In contrast to the previous week's Women's WorldTour race, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, there were no standoffs. At Strade Bianche everyone just set to the task along the challenging roads through Tuscany from the get-go. The riders had no choice, otherwise they'd risk being left...for dust, I guess!
Result:
1. Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ)
2. Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx-Protime)
3. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Team Visma-Lease a Bike)
4. Juliette Labous (FDJ-SUEZ)
5. Mavi Garcia (Liv AlUla Jayco)
Five-time Spanish National Road Race Champion Mavi Garcia, who races for Liv AlUla Jayco, competed in the Strade Bianche and is a regular visitor to the gravel classic. She recounts her experience:
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| Photo: Sprint Cycling/Greenedge |
Regaining confidence after UAE Tour crash
I have a few races to do in Italy, over the next couple of weeks but it feels better for me to return to my home in Mallorca in between the races so I can properly rest and train in a relaxed environment.
I travelled to the race, having competed at the Setmana Ciclistica Valenciana and the UAE Tour where I had had a nasty crash during the race, though luckily I wasn't injured. I had been going well and was feeling fit, however after the crash I wasn't feeling 100% and didn't get the result I had hoped for.
When I returned home and rested, I felt okay and realised I was still on good form. It's just that when you crash you aren't completely sure of yourself.
A dusty recon around Siena
We travelled there the Wednesday before the race - one day earlier than - and we stayed in Siena, about 15 minutes from the start line. The race was on Saturday, and normally we would have arrived two days before the race, but this time we decided to travel earlier in order to feel more relaxed, and be able to do a good recon of the route on the Thursday.
We were able to get up early each morning to do the recon ride, and that made it really helpful and pleasant doing it that way.
We looked at the route starting from the long gravel section right up to the end, and did two loops so that we could get a good idea of the travelled sections. It's important to have seen how the ground is beforehand. Some years it can be more solid, but this year we saw that the gravel was very very dry and loose. Nevertheless, we were really looking forward to the race.
Strade Bianche is always a really nice race, and it's a nice atmosphere. The women's and men's team presentations taking place at the same time, and this way it looks very impressive with all the teams present. At the end of the day it's a lovely event that's been going on for a few years now - a mythic race held in a mythic town in Italy. So there's a bit more fanfare for this race in the beautiful town of Siena.
Ride to survive
I didn't do Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but I watched it, and between those two teams [FDJ-SUEZ and SD Worx-Protime] they thought it wasn't up to them to lead the chase after the breakaway, so in the end there was a bit of a standoff as they both adopted the tactics that would make them more competitive in the race.
But Strade Bianche was going to be totally different because from the fi4st moment it's a tough race that can eliminate many women, many teams and so the race has a different evolution, given that it is more or less an elimination race. All that's left in the final are the stronger teams with more than one or two top riders that manage to hold on. If a team tries to play things like at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad they could end up being off the back, and a lonely race for them.
This race is very well-known for the difficulty and the challenge that goes with it, and the teams break up more so in this race than in others. There are lots more incidents along the road in this race than in most other races, and getting through Strade Bianche without any incident is quite rare!
As a team, we were looking forward to doing this race even though it is very technical because of the gravel and everything. The key is in making sure you are well-positioned when going into the sterrati.
I came second in Strade Bianche a few years ago, when I managed to get into a long breakaway. Every edition of the race has become increasingly difficult as the level raises. It's important to turn up with a strong team; this race tests your fitness at another level.
In our team we had a more open plan because there were a few girls who were going well and of a similar level. So we wanted to try and make it an aggressive race, and have as many of our team as possible in the final. Then in the final we would see how we felt, and decide from there, depending on where we were with respect to the other riders.
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| Photo: LaPresse |
How my race played out
The race was tough especially because you could hardly see anything given that there was so much more dust coming up from the roads than ever before.
So many things happened to so many riders during the race. I felt good, but I still had a few things happen. In our team we had punctures, I crashed twice, and used up a lot of energy getting back up to the group in front.
My first crash was at the start on the first gravel sector, then further along in another section, I got caught up in another crash and had to chase back.
Later, I got a puncture on a long gravel sector [near Serravalle] but my team car was too far back to help me, and in the end I got a spare wheel from Shimano neutral service. Then that tyre punctured so I was back to waiting for my team car again. When I finally got a wheel change I was all alone and had to ride hard to get back to the front - which was pretty hard.
It was a bit crazy because at the same time, my team mates further ahead also needed assistance after she crashed and needed to change bike.
Getting going was tough. I was quite far behind, but at one point the pace of the peloton dropped a bit as other girls also had various things happen to them - lots of punctures and other things meant that they ended up slowing down slightly, while at the same time I was at the very back busting a gut to get back on. Once I reached the convoy of team cats things were a bit easier.
This year there was so much more dust than before. By the time we all finished the race our faces were completely white with the stuff. Even for the rest of the day and well into the evening my mouth was stinging and my skin was sore from the dust and sweat.
During the race I tried to minimise the effects of the dust by drinking more water or trying to clean myself up, but there wasn't really much I could do. And of course with all the cars, there were moments when they threw up so much dust that I could barely see two metres ahead. That was probably another reason for so many crashes - people couldn't always see where they were going! By the end of the race I had breathed in so much dust; it was really unpleasant. But I guess it didn't do me any harm. In Strade Bianche it's best to be either at the front or off the back - so it helps to be in the breakaway.
A few of us in the team attacked, and tried to stay in the breaks. I was the last one in the team to do an attack, and so I ended up ahead of my team-mates in the breakaway. I felt good and had good legs. When racing, I can tell fairly early on in the race if I'll have a good day or a bad day. And on this occasion it felt like things could go well for me. I was able to stay with the breaks, meaning I could push myself ahead - at least until Anna van der Breggen and Demi Vollering attacked.
Coming into the final, because I had been quite active in the front group, by the time we reached the final climb up Via Santa Caterina I wasn't entirely sure how my legs would react. In fact, physically I felt fine. So I was able to contest the final, and came fifth - which I was happy with.
Mavi's verdict on Strade Bianche
Strade Bianche is not my favourite race because it's less suited to my riding style. It's a very explosive race as the climbs are all very short. I've become accustomed to those sorts of climbs a little bit over the years, but I am more suited to races with long climbs and I do better in those races.
But Strade Bianche has been on the calendar for many years now, and I enjoy doing it. In terms of the route, it was the same as last year except that the gravel sectors half-way through are more difficult. With each edition the level of racing increases, which also makes things harder, and I think this edition is harder than last year. This year I rode quicker than in other editions.
The atmosphere in the team was pretty good, with Silke [Smulders] and Monica [Trinca Colonel] finishing well [10th and 11th] respectively. They both have a lot of potential and I have no doubt that they will be playing bigger roles in other races this year.
In previous years I have been the sole leader, but I think that they will develop a lot, and I want to help them in their development so that they race well. They are hungry for success too, which is very important.
This year there's a very good environment at Liv AlUla Jayco. As a team, including with the staff we are very mild-mannered, and as a rider you feel relaxed and not like you're under so much pressure. It's the ideal atmosphere in which to perform well.
We didn't really get to celebrate our results as we had to get back home that day. The nearest we got was to having a celebratory ice cream before I got my flight back to Mallorca. I returned home late on Saturday night, so left it to Sunday to celebrate by having a nice day out with my partner, who is also my coach.
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| Photo: Sprint Cycling/Greenedge |
What's next for Mavi
Strade Bianche was not a target race for me, as my aim is La Vuelta [a España], and the Tour [de France avec Zwift]. But this racewas more like a way to gauge where my fitness was. I had trained well over the winter, and could see that I had form when I raced in Mallorca, but things hadn't been straightforward because of the crash. But as we do more races I will get a better idea of my form. Based on Strade Bianche I think that I have good form so far, so I hope to have a good year.
Alfredo Binda and Milan-Sanremo are big races I am looking forward to, but again, because they have short explosive hills they aren't suited to me, and therefore are not big objectives for me personally. However, as team, they are important races for us, so we will go in with a few cards to play.
We hope to do the recon of the Milan-Sanremo while we are up for Alfredo Binda, and we are really looking forward to this beautiful race. Everyone has been anticipating it with excitement, and I believe we can get a good result.
Related post
Women's WorldTour Stories: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad by Alice Towers
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