One of the most stimulating uncertainties of the consequences of the pandemic for cycling will undoubtedly be how many races that have had to be relocated on the calendar will be reinterpreted. And how cyclists, accustomed to facing certain routes in a specific period of the year, are able to respond to the new climatic variables that are going to be found.

The spring classics are that, spring. Still mild temperatures, sometimes storms or even cold. Mud is always a possibility, heat a rarity that only appears every few years. Now, all those tests change their rules. Many will be in August or September, with the thermometers triggered, and those that take place in October will not necessarily be like those in March and April.

So, in a way, nothing learned so far is worth to foresee what can happen in races like Strade Bianche, the classic that restarted the World Tour calendar this Saturday, stopped in Paris-Nice in March because of the crisis sanitary. The test of the white roads, that of the arrival in the Piazza del Campo de Siena, always guarantees spectacle and beauty, but in this 2020 edition it did it as never before, heartbreaking due to the impact of the dust on the body of the runners. 30 degrees on the bike. The mud that blinds this time was burning earth.

An unrivaled pickle

It was, in short, a memorable Strade Bianche, conquered by a cyclist who long ago deserved a win of this caliber. Wout Van Aert , the Belgian for everything (a sprint, a classic, a time trial ...) of the Jumbo Visma, finally hit the target after third consecutive places. He had failed forces on the final climb both in 2018 against Tiesj Benoot and Romain Bardet and in 2019 against Julian Alaphilippe and Jakob Fuglsang . But this time he had done his homework earlier and reached the heart of Siena alone, the sole survivor of an unrivaled escapade.

The test had broken about 50 kilometers from the finish, in one of the most demanding 'sterrato' sections. In it, the block of favorites was broken, leaving behind several of the most qualified. Mathieu van der Poel , Alaphilippe and Peter Sagan , guys who shine much more in spring than in summer, in the cold than in the heat, burst after the bugle call imposed by Fuglsang, who always has plenty of enthusiasm. In the blink of an eye, there were barely a dozen runners left following the Danish.

The cramps of 2019

All that happened thereafter was a cold exercise of natural selection. With the Astana corridor neutralized, the group began to fray little by little, section by section. Michael Gogl , Michal Kwiatkowski , Zdenek Stybar , Greg van Avermaet ... With 12 kilometers to go, Van Aert attacked and only Alberto Bettiol , Maximilian Schachmann and Davide Formolo , a strange and unorthodox quartet, with such different profiles, resisted. that this was a matter of strength, not of concrete qualities.

The Belgian's bet found its way because Bettiol was breathless and because Schachmann and Formolo were not able to put together a chase with a scent of success. Before arriving in Siena, they both assumed that the only thing at stake was second place, won by the Italian in the last effort. And Van Aert, remembering the cramps that had been eliminated last year, recalling so many good positions in classic postin without ever having finished off, savored the mud that still remained around his mouth and collected all the debts he had contracted .

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