What makes a Classic a Classic? Yes, this is the perennial tricky question. A standard answer involves typically a dynamic, long, and exciting route. Dynamic as in some not so straightforward route: there must be some sort of iconic characteristic or challenge such as for example cobbles or brutal climbs. Long as in length, a Classic should always be a great test of hardy endurance. Exciting as in cheering roadside fans pumping adrenaline into the riders and those watching on television; exciting as in passages through or by exotic or iconic cycling or cultural locations both natural landscapes or pinnacles of architecture; exciting as in the route is designed to promote thrilling or finely-balanced racing that leaves us in suspense for much of the broadcast.
All of these parameters Strade Bianche O! so assuredly lives up to. It’s key unique challenge in in the race name itself for “strade bianche” translates literally to “white roads.” Yes, the iconic White Roads made of that special white gravel, O! how unique are they. Surely, they are a challenge on the flat, and quite the ordeal when they pitch up to well over 15% gradient in certain places. Unlike the Cobbled Classics too, there is no early stretch of leg-softening early flat kilometers to ease the peloton into racing: here from the flag drop, the riders are positioning and preparing for the first sector of gravel. In extreme conditions, either wet or basked in summer heat, how treacherously brutal the white gravel can be. Loose and chokingly dusty in the heat, slippery and mushy and muddy rooster-tails streaming in the wet; both are quite a spectacle to see when the conditions reach such extremes. Yes, the scorching August edition in 2020 will long be remembered. And the editions in the wet: few will forget how ghostly looked the riders who crossed the line spattered front and back with that white gravel—I tell you like Dickens’ Jacob Marley-ghost they all looked crossing the line with extreme-exhaustion haunting all their faces. Yes, even in a relatively dry Spring edition, though the race is always short of 200 km, the White Roads tire these riders out so—all the finishers surely earn their wages for completing the racing this day, no matter their placing. And as for as iconic locations and scenery? O! How beautiful the race shows off the hills of Tuscany where so many great cyclists have been bred and sculpted throughout many generations, and what a place of Italian cultural history as well—to name but one example, here was the region the great Dante Alighieri wandered in exile. And the race’s finish: into that historic hilltop city of Siena—a cultural and architectural jewel for centuries—to its very center, to the Piazza del Campo where the illustrious Palio horse race takes place. Yes, yes, the approach, O! surely it is in the discussion for greatest race finishes in cycling.
Strade’s Siena finish is in the discussion for greatest finish for both its aesthetic beauty and dramatic final challenge. Under the one kilometer to go banner comes the gated entrance into the Medieval part of the city. The streets are narrow and lined with Medieval homes that are only a doorstep away from the racecourse climbing to the finish. Truly, look up a picture of the beautiful finishing ramp—here were a people who avowed to adorn their city in breathtaking beauty on every block, may us moderns take note! But yes, I did indeed say ramp: for the road pitches up for some 600 meters O! so steeply as it flies up to the Piazza at the center of the hilltop. Ideally, the White Gravel Roads have done the majority of the damage throughout the race, but still the race comes down to the 16% pitches on this very final ramp of the race. Only two or three men are left, and finally only one has the strength to break away from his competitors: to crest the top alone with some 500 meters to go. Then the leader shall weave his way through the last bits of divine Medieval lovingly-crafted city streets while the other chasers scramble to close the gap if they have any strength left. But finally, the new champion then emerges in the last few hundred meters into the open Piazza del Campo to the applause of the Sienese who get to celebrate and add another hero to their distinguished honor-roll.
O! Strade, how beloved you are. So beloved are thee, ye have become a Classic after only a couple handfuls of years in existence. Yes, yes, that is the last essential ingredient that all the other Classics have: history. Strade Bianche cannot claim the long history like the other Classics—most have their dawn from the ashes of the Post-War years or go back before the First Great War or even the turn of the 19th Century. And yet, here is Strade acting not even as the youngest brother in the company of the other aged Classics, but masquerading as one of the elder statesmen. Yes, you have heard its most unofficial nickname: “The 6th Monument.” Despite the relative complete lack of history, Strade is such a beloved spectacle some wish to elevate it now to the same rank as the Five Monuments—the most prestigious single-day bike races in the world—Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and il Lombardia which have all run over 100 editions each.
Personally, I accept the 6th Monument nickname as a fun completely unofficial title. And while I clearly see Strade as a Classic despite its lack of history, as fun as it is to compare: surely there is no way it could possibly be considered a Monument—despite all its admiration, which I myself also pour into it. To be a Monument, the history is such a major requirement, alas! they had not the idea for Strade Bianche a century ago! And a second reason that we cannot even entertain the Monument idea is because though all the riders love this race and would desperately love to win it, no one has yet to ever “peak” for Strade Bianche. It is never anyone’s top goal: it is simply a fun appointment before the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race which is part of the official leadup to the first Monument of the year, Milan-Sanremo, that many riders have quadruple circled on their calendars; for goodness sake, some riders are only making their season debut at Strade. Now, this snare to the hypothetical Monument-pursuit could possibly be remedied if Strade were to possibly find a new position on the calendar. What if it returned to the autumn and became a dually coveted prize with il Lombardia—have two crown jewels of Autumnal Classics? Or what if the organizers dared that heated August spot once again as they did in the 2020 Coronavirus season—this was the race that reignited the shortened cycling season after many miserable dormant months of lockdowns; what an honor Strade and that year’s victor Wout Van Aert had to re-open the cycling calendar, I tell you it had all the same trademarks of Fausto Coppi’s 1946 Milan-Sanremo that re-opened the cycling world after the horrors of the Second World War. Yes, an August slot, on the heels of the Tour where many Classics riders come out with great form and still look for opportunities to make the most of it. Surely, if it is to increase its prestige, pursue a higher status than the Classic it has masterfully become in only some-ten years, it shall need to carve out a new home on the calendar where it can be the great peak and not only a fun objective in the runner-up to something more.
Ah! But whether it is only a building-up-Classic for the later Monuments, or one day it becomes a Monument itself, surely, surely it shall always continue to be beloved. It is a race that the Cobbled Classics men—your Fabian Cancellaras and Zdenek Stybars—eye with top-steps of podiums in mind, and yet sometimes they are foiled by men built for the Ardennes—like Michal Kwiatkowski and Julian Alaphilippe—who know how to handle a bike so skillfully and fine, and yet always too we see climbing stars of the Grand Tours trying to hold their own as well on the treacherous White Roads that pitch up and down on the Tuscan hills. Yes, though all the racers have later objectives, still how much they all love to race this special race. All come away with another war story, all come away having put in a hard day’s work, all come away wanting to come back next year. Yes, yes, this is a race that highlights the greatest aspects of cycling: thrilling racing in beautiful and historic places. The Tuscan hills and White Roads make for such a beautiful challenge, and that final run-in to Siena is something special to be sure, why did it take the Sienese so long to contrive such a predestined-Classic race? Ultimately, the answer does not much matter, for now we have the race, and another Classic installment shall be completed this very weekend. Long live the White Roads. Viva le Strade Bianche.
Cycling Odysseys 