Gran Fondo Strade Bianche: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The start is at nine o'clock at the Fortezza Medicea in Siena. The first twenty kilometres are tarmac and approach, then at kilometre 20.5 the Vidritta opens the first of ten gravel sectors. Bagnaia (5.8 km), Radi (4.4 km) and Piana (6.4 km) follow, and then Serravalle and San Martino in Grania, the two longest of the day at 9.3 and 9.5 unbroken kilometres of white gravel.

Between the sectors the route rolls over the hills of the Crete Senesi, the bare clay country southeast of Siena with its cypress avenues and isolated farms on the ridges. The profile is never dramatic but it is almost never still: only a quarter of the measured 138.9 kilometres is flat, a third climbs and a third descends, and the climbs are short, frequent and often on gravel, where traction and line choice decide the watts.

The last forty kilometres bring the famous short sectors: Guistrigona at kilometre 102, Monteaperti at 113, Colle Pinzuto at 118 and Le Tolfe at 124, each only one to two and a half kilometres but steep and rough. Then comes the via Esterna di Fontebranda, the gate of the same name into the old town, the climb up via Santa Caterina at over ten percent and sixteen at its steepest, and the last thirty metres at seven percent into the Piazza del Campo. The field is capped at 8,500 riders, and the measured total ascent comes to 2,382 metres against the 2,000 the organizer publishes.

Pacing Strategy

On this course the problem is not the gradient but the frequency. Ten sterrato sectors mean ten losses of speed on entry, ten accelerations at the exit and, in between, tarmac links on which groups form again. Anyone who goes with every sector exit rides the race as interval training and is empty by kilometre 100. Let gaps open on the gravel and close them on the road.

The race is decided in the Serravalle to San Martino in Grania block between kilometre 58 and 79: nineteen kilometres of gravel in quick succession, at midrace, when your fuelling is either working or it is not. Tyre pressure and composure pay off more than power here: too much pressure costs traction and comfort, too much aggression costs tyres. Hold an even, fairly low cadence, stay seated and skip the accelerations.

The trap is the final thirty kilometres. Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe are short enough to ride in the red, and many do because the finish feels close, and then comes the via Santa Caterina. More than ten percent on paving after 135 kilometres, with a crowd and nowhere to swing, is not a ramp you solve with anger. Deliberately save something for those three minutes, and ride the last sectors so that you can still turn the pedals at the top.

Training plan for Gran Fondo Strade Bianche: 12-week build

For age-group riders the Gran Fondo means about five to eight hours in the saddle. The demand is markedly unsettled: 2,382 metres of climbing spread over many short ascents, a third of the route climbing and a third descending, and the alternation of tarmac and gravel forcing constant changes of speed and force. There is no steady endurance pace to be had.

The first training emphasis is repeatable strength endurance. Build blocks of five to ten minute climbs with short recoveries and ride them in the final third of long days, so what you train is repeatability rather than a single best effort. Add short, hard one to two minute efforts for sector exits and the closing ramps.

The second emphasis is the surface. Forty-three kilometres of gravel tire hands, forearms, shoulders and trunk long before the legs go; train only on tarmac and you lose control rather than power in the last third. Ride gravel and farm tracks regularly, test tyre width and pressure over a long ride, and practise riding in a group on loose ground, because dust and poor visibility are part of the sterrato.

On conditions: early March in Tuscany is cold and changeable. Rain turns the white roads to clay, dry weather turns them to washboard and dust. Plan clothing and equipment for both, carry spare tubes or sealant against cuts from sharp gravel, and test a fuelling strategy you can execute on rough ground, because drinking from a bottle on the sterrato is not a given.