There are races that toil in obscurity for years and others that claim iconic status as if by right.
The Strade Bianche, held this year for only the eighth time, attracts the world’s best riders like bees to a honey pot, with sprinters, rouleurs, and even the men most at home on the soaring climbs of the Grand Tours fancying their chances on the white Tuscan roads.
This year’s edition of a race inspired by the l’Eroica granfondo delivered more acts of heroism, with its absence of race radios forcing riders to make their own decisions and prompting a return to what some might identify as a more noble form of racing.
The man who made all the right calls was the winner: 23-year-old Polish road race champion, Michal Kwiatkowski, arguably the cream of a formidable crop of young talent in cycling’s elite UCI WorldTour.
Photographer, Stefano Sirotti, was on hand to capture all the action in this superb gallery.
