Less than 24 hours before the start of the Strade Bianche Crédit Agricole, whose protagonists were officially confirmed today. The first UCI WorldTour Italian race of the year confirms a stellar lineup led by the world number one, as well as winner of the Northern Classic Most Southern in Europe in 2022 and 2024, Tadej Pogacar. The world champion will seek his third victory in Piazza del Campo, which would allow him to equal Fabian Cancellara and earn the right to have a milestone dedicated to him on one of the sectors. At two victories are also Michal Kwiatkowski, captain of an Ineos Grenadiers where Thomas Pidcock is no longer present, winner in 2023 and coming off a great start to the season with four victories in the renewed Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. Among the riders at the start, pay close attention to Toms Skujins, second in 2024, Valentin Madouas, second in 2023, and Matej Mohoric, fifth in 2024. Also announced among the starters are some of the protagonists of this early season like Marc Hirschi, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Christian Scaroni and Mathias Vacek, along with stage race habitués like Richard Carapaz and the debutant Mikel Landa.

THE ROUTE. A very undulating course both planimetrically and altimetrically, without long climbs, but dotted with more or less steep ramps especially on gravel roads. There are approximately 82 km of unpaved roads divided into 16 sectors (13 of which are shared with the women's race).

Starting from Siena (Stadium/Medici Fortress area), first kilometers undulating on asphalt until reaching the 1st gravel sector (4.4 km) perfectly straight with only one curve in the middle and constantly slightly downhill.

A few kilometers separate you from the 2nd sector (4.8 km), the first true difficulty of the race which presents a long uphill section with gradients even over 10%. You then reach Radi where you encounter the 3rd sector (4.4 km) and immediately after the 4th "La Piana" sector (6.4 km) altimetrically less challenging that leads to Ponte d'Arbia from where, traveling along the Cassia, you reach Buonconvento

You then tackle the climb to Montalcino (paved) the second difficulty of the day (4 km, 5%). After Torrenieri, the 5th (11.9 km) and 6th (8.0 km) sectors begin, separated by only 1 km of asphalt, both challenging, undulating, very nervous with many curves and ups and downs.

After the second passage through Buonconvento, you face the new Serravalle sector (9.3 km) which ends just before the start of the next sector (San Martino in Grania, 9.5 km) in the middle of the Sienese crete. A long gravel sector with a succession of slight ups and downs in the first part, concluding with a switchback climb that leads back to asphalt.

At Ponte del Garbo (Asciano) the 9th gravel sector begins (11.5 km, the most challenging of the race), predominantly uphill and characterized by significant ups and downs, among which those near Monte Sante Marie that suddenly reach very steep gradients both uphill and downhill (over short distances).

After Castelnuovo Berardenga, a short paved section leads to Monteaperti, where immediately after is the 10th sector of just 600 m, but with a steep unpaved climb with double-digit gradients. Asphalt is found again in Vico d'Arbia, where the 30 km circuit begins.

After Pieve a Bozzone, the circuit offers the 11th sector (Colle Pinzuto 2.4 km) with gradients up to 15%. A few kilometers later is the 12th sector of Tolfe (1.1 km) with a sequence of a sharp descent followed by a steep climb (max gradient 18%). Shortly after Tolfe, on the first pass, riders enter the new Strada del Castagno sector (13th sector, 700 m) leading to some challenging paved sections up to Pontignano, Ponte a Bozzone, and San Giovanni a Cerreto, where the 14th unpaved sector (Montechiaro 3.3 km) is taken, as in the first editions of the race. At the end of this sector, in Vico d'Arbia, the loop concludes. Riders then cover a second time the Colle Pinzuto (15th) and Tolfe (16th) sectors, turning towards Siena when just over 10 km remain to the finish in Siena.

The final kilometers wind outside the town of Siena on wide roads and long straights connected by broad curves, first descending and then slightly ascending until 2 km from the finish, where Via Esterna di Fontebranda is taken with gradients up to 9%. At 900 m from the finish, riders pass through Porta di Fontebranda and begin the cobblestone pavement. The gradient exceeds 10% until reaching around 500 m from the finish, on Via Santa Caterina, with peaks of 16%. A sharp right turn follows into Via delle Terme and then onto Via Banchi di Sotto. From 300 m, the road is always slightly downhill. At 150 m, a right turn onto Via Rinaldini. At 70 m, riders enter the Campo, with the last 30 m at a 7% descent, finishing on a flat section.

START LIST

UAE Team Emirates - XRG
1. POGAČAR Tadej
2. BARONCINI Filippo
3. DEL TORO Isaac
4. GROßSCHARTNER Felix
5. NOVAK Domen
6. VERMEERSCH Florian
7. WELLENS Tim

Alpecin - Deceuninck
11. VERMEERSCH Gianni
12. GAZE Samuel
13. GLIVAR Gal
14. HERMANS Quinten
15. MEURISSE Xandro
16. PRICE-PEJTERSEN Johan
17. VERSTRYNGE Emiel

Arkéa - B&B Hotels
21. VAUQUELIN Kévin
22. DELAPLACE Anthony
23. ROULAND Louis
24. GUGLIELMI Simon
25. LE BERRE Mathis
26. TJØTTA Martin
27. VENTURINI Clément

Bahrain - Victorious
31. BILBAO Pello
32. BURATTI Nicolò
33. EULÁLIO Afonso
34. MOHORIČ Matej
35. PASQUALON Andrea
36. STANNARD Robert
37. VAN DER MEULEN Max

Cofidis
41. ARANBURU Alex
42. FERRON Valentin
43. IZAGIRRE Ion
44. LASTRA Jonathan
45. MAAS Jan
46. OURSELIN Paul
47. TEUNS Dylan

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
51. ISIDORE Noa
52. BERTHET Clément
53. DEWULF Stan
54. LABROSSE Jordan
55. VENDRAME Andrea
56. PRODHOMME Nicolas
57. TRONCHON Bastien

EF Education - EasyPost
61. HEALY Ben
62. HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich
63. CARAPAZ Richard
64. COSTA Rui
65. RYAN Archie
66. SHAW James
67. VALGREN Michael

Groupama - FDJ
71. MADOUAS Valentin
72. ASKEY Lewis
73. GAUDU David
74. GERMANI Lorenzo
75. GRÉGOIRE Romain
76. PACHER Quentin
77. ROCHAS Rémy

INEOS Grenadiers
81. KWIATKOWSKI Michał
82. TURNER Ben
83. SHMIDT Artem
84. HEIDUK Kim
85. PUCCIO Salvatore
86. RIVERA Brandon Smith
87. SWIFT Connor

Intermarché - Wanty
91. BUSATTO Francesco
92. BARRÉ Louis
93. BONNEU Kamiel
94. COLLEONI Kevin
95. FAURE PROST Alexy
96. PETILLI Simone
97. PAQUOT Tom

Israel - Premier Tech
101. FUGLSANG Jakob
102. BLACKMORE Joseph
103. CLARKE Simon
104. HOULE Hugo
105. NEILANDS Krists
106. RAISBERG Nadav
107. SHEEHAN Riley

Lidl - Trek
111. SKUJIŅŠ Toms
112. BAGIOLI Andrea
113. MOLLEMA Bauke
114. MOSCA Jacopo
115. WITHEN PHILIPSEN Albert
116. SIMMONS Quinn
117. VACEK Mathias

Lotto
121. VAN EETVELT Lennert
122. LIVYNS Arjen
123. SEPÚLVEDA Eduardo
124. CURRIE Logan
125. DRIZNERS Jarrad
126. THOMPSON Reuben
127. GREGAARD Jonas

Movistar Team
131. FORMOLO Davide
132. GUERREIRO Ruben
133. CANAL Carlos
134. MORO Manlio
135. SÁNCHEZ Pelayo
136. SERRANO Gonzalo
137. TESFATSION Natnael

Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
141. PIDCOCK Thomas
142. AZPARREN Xabier Mikel
143. BRAMBILLA Gianluca
144. CHRISTEN Fabio
145. DONOVAN Mark
146. ZUKOWSKY Nickolas
147. VADER Milan

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
151. ADRIÀ Roger
152. KOCH Jonas
153. MACIEJUK Filip
154. MOSCON Gianni
155. PALZER Anton
156. TRATNIK Jan
157. VAN DIJKE Tim

Team Solution Tech - Vini Fantini
161. BALMER Alexandre
162. PIRAS Andrea
163. QUARTUCCI Lorenzo
164. SBARAGLI Kristian
165. STEWART Mark
166. TISSIÈRES Arnaud
167. TSARENKO Kyrylo

Soudal Quick-Step
171. LANDA Mikel
172. CATTANEO Mattia
173. SERRY Pieter
174. GAROFOLI Gianmarco
175. REINDERINK Pepijn
176. VANSEVENANT Mauri
177. VERVAEKE Louis

Team Jayco AlUla
181. ZANA Filippo
182. DE MARCHI Alessandro
183. ENGELHARDT Felix
184. FOLDAGER Anders
185. HATHERLY Alan
186. HELLEMOSE Asbjørn
187. DE PRETTO Davide

Team Picnic PostNL
191. VERMAERKE Kevin
192. COMBAUD Romain
193. DHONDT Robbe
194. HAMILTON Chris
195. KOERDT Bjoern
196. POOLE Max
197. VAN DEN BROEK Frank

Team Polti VisitMalta
201. BAIS Mattia
202. RACCAGNI Gabriele
203. DE CASSAN Davide
204. MARTÍN Alex
205. SERRANO Javier
206. SEVILLA Diego Pablo
207. ZOCCARATO Samuele

Team Visma | Lease a Bike
211. VALTER Attila
212. GRAAT Tijmen
213. HUISING Menno
214. NORDHAGEN Jørgen
215. TULETT Ben
216. VAN DER SANDE Tosh
217. VERMOTE Julien

Tudor Pro Cycling Team
221. HIRSCHI Marc
222. ERIKSSON Jacob
223. THALMANN Roland
224. WARBASSE Larry
225. VOISARD Yannis
226. WILKSCH Hannes
227. WEISS Fabian

Uno-X Mobility
231. CORT Magnus
232. URIANSTAD BUGGE Martin
233. DVERSNES Fredrik
234. HOLTER Ådne
235. JOHANNESSEN Anders Halland
236. JOHANNESSEN Tobias Halland
237. BLUME LEVY William