Strade Bianche Women Preview
Written by Diego Martín (@calebthemartin)
ANALYSIS OF THE 2026 STRADE BIANCHE WOMEN ROUTE
- Time: 10:15 am - 1:45 pm (CET Madrid)
The 2026 Strade Bianche Women will be raced over 131 kilometres with eleven sectors of white roads. In total, the sterrato sectors will add up to 32.6 km, a significant reduction compared with 2025: two fewer sectors and 17.7 fewer kilometres on limestone terrain. In this edition the riders will not face the La Piana and Serravalle sectors, which were included in 2025. Nor will the sometimes longed-for 11.5 km Monte Sante Marie sector make its debut. Below we list the sterrato sectors, their distance and difficulty:
| # | Name | Distance | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vidritta | 2.4 km | ★ |
| 2 | Bagnaia | 4.8 km | ★★★ |
| 3 | Radi | 4.4 km | ★★ |
| 4 | San Martino in Grania | 9.4 km | ★★★★★ |
| 5 | Monteaperti | 0.6 km | ★★ |
| 6 | Colle Pinzuto | 2.4 km | ★★★★ |
| 7 | Le Tolfe | 1.1 km | ★★★ |
| 8 | Strada del Castagno | 0.7 km | ★ |
| 9 | Montechiaro | 3.3 km | ★★ |
| 10 | Colle Pinzuto | 2.4 km | ★★★★ |
| 11 | Le Tolfe | 1.1 km | ★★★ |
The first sterrato sector is a bit closer to the start, at kilometre 11, although it is shorter than last year. It is 2,400 metres long and slightly downhill, but it is quickly linked to Grotti/Bagnaia, the first section of white roads on rising terrain. It is the first serious difficulty of the day, 4.8 km with gradients even in double digits on sterrato.
After a fast descent once they crest Grotti, the riders tackle the third dirt sector of the day. Radi, at 4.4 km, should help the first selection to fully form and allow a possible early breakaway to emerge with an advantage after it. After Radi there are 35 km of road before the next sterrato.
And it is not just any sector. One of the icons of the race remains at its midway point. The San Martino in Grania sector of 9.4 km ends 66.9 km from the finish. It is one of the key moments of the race. Although it is quite far from the line, it is where the race can really start to split apart and where having a mechanical requires rapid help from teammates. It is easy to say goodbye to your chances here, or to find the race starting to turn against you and having to spend too much to get back on.
Afterwards comes descending terrain; and with 60 km to go a rising, rolling section begins before the four strerrato sectors leading into the finale.
The fifth dirt sector is short but hard. Monteaperti is 600 metres long, but it is a real wall with double-digit gradients. It does not kill, but it serves as antipasti for the key chain of sectors of the day.
Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe are the usual dancing partners of Strade Bianche Women, and they come twice, as is now also starting to be customary. They are opposite yet iconic. On Colle Pinzuto (2.3 km at 4.2% with ramps of 15%) the most critical part is the beginning and therefore the approach and entrance to the sector. The gradients then ease, but it is not easy to move up in these sectors and having been inattentive or not being able to move up in time can be costly.
On Le Tolfe (1.1 km at 0.2% with ramps close to 20%) the start is downhill and the finish is a real wall. The effort needed to tackle its last 500 metres at 18% can be decisive. Barely after the end of the sector the riders will face one of the novelties of this edition: the Strada del Castagno sector of only 700 metres, but which the organisers describe as technical.
These four sectors may witness the formation of the break of the day or, who knows, the attack that takes the race winner clear. After them the bunch will face just under 15 km of constantly undulating roads before the final sequence.
The final sequence starts a little over 25 kilometres from the finish and is made up of Montechiaro (3.3 km downhill) and a new pass over Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe, which once again loom as the judges of the race.
In Siena, though, it is customary for justice to be finally dispensed on two streets. Via Esterna di Fontebranda, with gradients of up to 9%, starts less than 2 km from the finish and from there the terrain hardly lets up. And shortly after the flamme rouge, once the Fontebranda Gate is passed, at 900 m from the finish, and the cobbles begin, comes the litmus test: Via Santa Caterina puts everyone in their place.
Little is left to decide after cresting this uphill street, whose average gradient exceeds 10% (with ramps over 16%). Still, we have already seen several victories decided with a bike throw in the Piazza del Campo. The right-hand turn after the crest is usually decisive, though not always. The final 500 metres are somewhat technical but even more mental, in an agonising finale where we have already seen several handlebars thrown over the finish line as the conclusion to a head-to-head duel.
THE WEATHER
Mild but pleasant temperatures (15–17 ºC) are expected during Strade Bianche Women 2026. Neither wind nor rain is expected to play a major role.
FAVOURITES FOR THE 2026 STRADE BIANCHE WOMEN
Top favourites for the 2026 Strade Bianche Women
Last Saturday the season started with Omloop Nieuwsblad. The victory of the Dutch rider Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) is undoubtedly huge: because of how she won, attacking and going clear with Niewiadoma, and because she starts the season with everything in her favour by taking her first victory at Omloop Nieuwsblad.
In 2026 Vollering has won la Setmana and Omloop. Everything she has raced. She has won both a stage race, her speciality, and two of its stages, as well as the first classic of the year. At times, especially in her last year at SD Worx – 2024 – some classics did not go her way, but starting off with a win changes everything. In Strade she is the outstanding favourite to take her third victory.
The Pole Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto) is the other rider whose confidence has been greatly boosted after Omloop. This classic did not usually suit her well. She was not well positioned when Koch set up Vollering’s attack, and yet she was able to close the gap and go away alone with the Dutchwoman. In UAE she left mixed impressions: she responded well initially, but ended up “blowing up” like Fisher-Black. These are different efforts. The truth is that we can and should consider her a major favourite for victory at Strade Bianche Women 2026.
The Belgian Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) is another favourite for the 2026 win. It would be her third victory, just as it would be for Vollering if she took it. Fresh in everyone’s mind is that controversial sprint between teammates. After Omloop she has the moral advantage of not having been beaten there, even if that was down to a mechanical. We are eager to see if she can leave behind the bad sensations of 2026 on the road. On the track she has already shown some dazzling pedal strokes.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévòt (Visma Lease a Bike) makes her 2026 debut. She has barely raced since becoming queen of the Tour de France Femmes. Her goal is at least to confirm her 2025 return to the classics. She was third at Strade. It is true that back then that performance was monumental; today perhaps that same podium would not stand out as much. We are keen to see what shape the French rider is in and to begin to discern whether, in her second season back, her performances in the classics can be even greater.
Last but not least, we highlight Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) as a top favourite. On the mountain-top finish day at Jebel Hafeet the Italian showed good form. She was able to attack and counterattack in repeated efforts, unlike some rivals who ended up cracking. Although in the end Trinca Colonel and de Vries closed part of the gap, the UAE rider left a great impression in the Emirates. After her training camp with the team on Teide we expect to see her at her best level. She is our favourite to repeat her 2017 victory. She has the best team, with multiple riders capable of making the race hard by setting the pace in the group or attacking and creating dangerous breakaways.
Other contenders or favourites
The Mauritian Kim Le Court De Billot - Pienaar (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) is a rider to consider for the win. If they are not able to drop her before the final climb on Via Santa Caterina, they may pay the price. She is a top-level puncheur who improves her performances every year.
The Italian Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv AlUla Jayco) is one of the riders whose progress we have seen most clearly over the last two years. Although her best performances have come on mountainous days and in stage races, she is a rider to be reckoned with at Strade.
The Dutch rider Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) was one of the big sensations of the 2024 season. Although in 2025 she did not manage to shine in the Tour as she did in 2024, her spring was more than noteworthy. While it is clear that the Ardennes classics suit her characteristics better, the truth is she is a rider made for Strade. Her aggressiveness and power make her a protagonist by her mere presence on the start line.
One team that has two or several options, though distinct, is Lidl-Trek. The Dutch rider Shirin van Anroij is, in principle, the main card, due to her better record in classics and her ability to seek the break. Expectations for the Dutchwoman are high in her first full classics season after her surgery. Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) is another rider to keep in mind for the finale. It is not the terrain that suits her best, but the New Zealander is very combative and may try to slip into moves before the final fireworks.
Alongside them we have a long list of puncheurs, all-rounders and climbers who may have a lot to say in Siena. We are talking about riders such as world champion Magdeleine Vallieres or the Frenchwoman Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), the Swiss rider Elise Chabbey and the French rider Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-Suez), the Dutch rider Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), fellow Dutch rider Femke de Vries (Visma | Lease a Bike), the Austrian Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Premier Tech), the Swede Caroline Andersson (Liv AlUla Jayco), the Italian Eleonora Ciabocco (Picnic PostNL), the Belgian Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal), the New Zealander Ella Wyllie (Liv AlUla Jayco), the German Liane Lippert (Movistar), the Norwegians Mie Bjørndal Ottestad and Katrine Aalerud (Uno-X Mobility), the Spaniard Mavi García and the Pole Dominika Włodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ).