PREFACE
EDWARD PICKERING
EDITOR
Both editions of Strade Bianche were brilliant races, the best of the year so far. That’s reason enough to celebrate them -I could just sit back and enjoy two exciting races, though a note to the TV people: show much more of the women’s race already.
They were also excellent primers on How Cycling Works. The women’s race demonstrated the nuances of teamwork and how it operates in cycling. In 2020, Trek-Segafredo worked out a very effective way of fighting against the superior strength of Anna van der Breggen; in Strade Bianche 2021, Van der Breggen’s SD Worx turned the tables right back on them, putting Chantal van den Broeck-Blaak on to Elisa Longo Borghini’s wheel, where she stayed all the way to the final climb. There, the energy she’d saved doing none of the work could be used in a race-winning attack. Fingers crossed, we’re in for some more great battles this spring.