Strade Bianche - Eroica Pro
 |
|
| Date | Early March |
|---|---|
| Region | Tuscany, Italy |
| Local name(s) | Strade Bianche - Eroica Pro (Italian) |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI World Tour |
| Type | Single-day |
| Race director | Mauro Vegni |
| First edition | 2007 |
| Editions | 10 (as of 2016) |
| First winner |
 Alexandr Kolobnev (RUS)
|
| Most wins |  Fabian Cancellara (SUI) (3 wins) |
| Most recent |
Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
|
The Strade Bianche, officially called Strade Bianche - Eroica Pro, is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. It has been held annually since 2007, on the first or second Saturday of March. The name Strade Bianche (Italian for White Streets) stems from the historic white gravel roads that are a defining feature of the race. More than 50 km of the total distance are raced on dirt roads.
Despite its relatively short history, the Strade Bianche has quickly gained prestige. As from 2017, the event will be included in the UCI World Tour, cycling's highest level of professional road races. It is organized by RCS Sport - La Gazzetta dello Sport, and is held the weekend before Tirreno–Adriatico as an early spring precursor to the cobbled classics in April. Swiss Fabian Cancellara holds the record with three wins.
Since 2015, a women's event, the Strade Bianche Donne, is held on the same day as the men's race. The event is part of the UCI Women's World Tour and is raced at approximately half the distance of the men's race, containing 17 km of gravel roads spread over five sectors.
The Eroica Strade Bianche ("Heroic race of the gravel roads") was created in 1997 as a granfondo, a recreational bike race for vintage bikes only, on the white gravel roads around Siena, an event that is still held annually the day after the professional race.
In 2007, a professional race was spun off the event, inaugurally called Monte Paschi Eroica, won by Russian Alexandr Kolobnev. The race was held on 9 October; it started in Gaiole in Chianti and finished in Siena. Organizer RCS asked local cycling icons Fiorenzo Magni and Paolo Bettini to promote the maiden event.Monte dei Paschi, the world's oldest still-existing bank with its headquarters in Siena, served as the race's title sponsor for the first four years.
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