While Strade Bianche signalled the return of the WorldTour in 2020, this year's edition serves as a reminder that we're not out of the woods just yet with regards to the coronavirus pandemic.
The one-day Italian classic is set to go ahead despite Siena, where the race is held, becoming a red zone and going into lockdown until at least next week.
Coronavirus cases are increasing once more in the Tuscan city, with residents not allowed to leave unless they have work or for medical reasons, schools will also close, as well as non-essential shops.
Both the men's and women's editions of Strade Bianche are scheduled for this coming Saturday, March 6, and will go ahead as planned for the moment, unless the local authorities change their mind in the coming days.
>>> What’s it like to ride alongside the pro peloton? We spoke to someone who’s done it
"For now, the race is confirmed. Even though Siena is now classified as 'code red', that has no impact on the race, only on the public," race organisers RCS Sport told Cycling News. "Of course, anything can happen with the virus, but at the moment we have not yet received any notice that the race cannot take place."
While the 2020 edition added sweltering August heat to the dusty, white Tuscan roads, rain is scheduled for this weekend in Siena, which would only add to the spectacle.
Strade Bianche will open the 2021 women's WorldTour, while Wout van Aert will make his season debut as defending champion. He will come up against nemesis Mathieu van der Poel, who returned to Europe early from the UAE Tour after members of the Alpecin-Fenix entourage tested positive for Covid-19.
It seems that bike races, with the money and will to do so, have figured out how to race through the pandemic, with extensive testing and extra health and safety protocols being implemented.
At Opening Weekend in Belgium, Israel Start-Up Nation's Guillaume Boivin and Reto Hollenstein couldn't take the start line after Dirk Demol tested positive and the two riders had been in contact with the sports director. The WorldTour outfit were left to race with five riders in their squad as Sep Vanmarcke took the third podium spot, and Demol later returned a negative test, raising the possibility that Demol's initial positive was a false positive.
-
-
Tokyo 2020 Olympics cycling medals table: Team GB move up to top the board
Here's all of the medals awarded so far for two wheeled events
By Alex Ballinger •
-
Worthington takes gold and Brooks bronze in stellar BMX freestyle for GB at Tokyo Olympics
Charlotte Worthington pulled off a trick that hadn't been completed so far in the women's competition in order to claim gold
By Jonny Long •
-
Vincenzo Nibali says riders should switch off bike computers following Mathieu van der Poel’s Strade Bianche win
Vincenzo Nibali has said riders should avoid looking at their power meters in races, after Mathieu van der Poel’s phenomenal victory in Strade Bianche.
By Alex Ballinger •
-
Strade Bianche Strava times obliterated as Mathieu van der Poel takes final 25km KOM
Wout van Aert's fourth-place effort also saw him lop two minutes of the time that gave him the win in 2020
By Jonny Long •
-
Crowfunding campaign shows our races deserve to broadcast, says Anna van der Breggen
More than €26,000 was raised to add to the prize pot of the women's Strade Bianche, but the world champion rails against the fact only the last 22km were broadcast
By Jonny Long •
-
Five talking points from Strade Bianche 2021
The Dutch dominated, winning both men's and women's races
By Stephen Puddicombe •
-
Rivals quake as Mathieu van der Poel hopes Strade Bianche 'is just the start' this spring
The Dutchman's repeated explosive attacks towards the Piazza del Campo went unanswered by the world's best riders
By Jonny Long •
-
'I'll be there soon' says Tom Pidcock after impressing once more with top five at Strade Bianche
'I was thinking, yeah this is quite cool,' says the Brit after making the selection containing the world's top riders on the Tuscan gravel roads
By Jonny Long •
-
Lift off for Mathieu van der Poel as Dutchman powers to Strade Bianche victory
No-one could match the Dutchman after he put in an explosive attack to dislodge Julian Alaphilippe up to the finish line in the Piazza del Campo
By Jonny Long •
-
SDWorx continue to rule, with Chantal van den Broek-Blaak winning Strade Bianche
The former world champion out-kicked Elisa Longo Borghini to win the first Women's WorldTour race of the year
By Owen Rogers •
