The Gran Fondo Strade Bianche by Pinarello got underway yesterday (September 12) near Siena, Northern Italy. Taking in the Fortezza Medicea (Medici Fortress, sometimes known as the Fort of Saint Barbara), the mass participation event reported 5,000 participants.
Riding Sienese gravel roads, the 2021 Gran Fondo Strade Bianche was postponed from March to September. Pro riders still took on the race in March.
The amateur riders followed in the footsteps of the professionals (a few months later) who competed in this year’s ‘southernmost Northern Classic in Europe’. The March 2021 event was won by Dutch phenomenon Mathieu van der Poel, ahead of world champion Julian Alaphilippe and the winner of the last Giro d’Italia, Egan Bernal.
Whilst it is still a young event, from year to year the Gran Fondo Strade Bianche by Pinarello has seen its prestige grow in the Italian and international amateur cycling scene.
At the start line were a number of famous faces, including Johan de Muynck, winner of the 1978 Giro d’Italia; Paolo Bettini, former World and Olympic Champion; Andrea Tafi, winner of the Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders; Moreno Moser, sole Italian winner of Strade Bianche; alongside Stefano Allocchio and Max Lelli.
Among the men, first across the finish line at the Piazza del Campo was Onofrio Monzillo followed by Tommaso Elettrico and Fabio Cini. The first female rider was Sara Mazzorana, followed by Simona Parente and Katleen Luypaert.
