Strade Bianche, Italy
3 March 2018
Covered in a thick layer of mud, and as the gradient of the Via Santa Caterina starts to bite, lone leader Tiesj Benoot takes a look over his shoulder to see if there are any chasers in sight. The narrow city- centre climb through Siena was all that stood between Benoot and his irst- ever professional victory. Constant heavy rain in the days before and during the race turned the pristine white strade bianche gravel stretches into brown sludge. In fact, the weather turned out to be the star of the show and it created one of the most thrilling one-day races of the year.