Strade Bianche is being raced and celebrated as it was a Classic, despite its young age. The white gravel roads of Tuscany demand respect in what has turned into a dusty, scenic and prestigious prelude to the Northern Classics. Tinkoff-Saxo sends into battle a team with proven classics riders, led by captain Peter Sagan.
 
Team leader Peter Sagan is accompanied by Daniele Bennati, Roman Kreuziger, Maciej Bodnar, Manuele Boaro, Christopher Juul-Jensen, Juraj Sagan and Matteo Tosatto. Last year’s runner up, Peter Sagan, is back from the team’s Middle Eastern campaign and excited to be racing on European soil - namely gravel - on the 7th of March.
 
"The Strade Bianche is a race that appeals to me because it has a very picturesque, scenic route. It is also ideal for my characteristics and qualities as a rider. I hope to do well in my first European race of 2015", comments Sagan about the Tuscan “modern classic”, which was first raced in 2007.

When asked about the ambitions at the race, Bruno Cenghialta, team sport director, was straight forward.
 
“Peter Sagan is definitely our leader at Strade Bianche, furthermore, we have a squad of very significant and prestigious riders, with great qualities that will play an important role in achieving our goal, which is to win. Most of our riders such as Bennati, Juul-Jensen and Kreuziger, who was fifth last year, have already participated in the Strade Bianche and are familiar with the route and the challenges”, comments Bruno Cenghialta and adds:
 
"Strade is a race that suits Peter Sagan. It lacks long climbs and in fact it’s quite similar to the ones of the Northern Classics. In addition, Peter's background in mountain bikes favors him on the 45km of dirt tracks”.

Cenghialta refers to the 45.4km of the famous white roads or 'Strade Bianche', which always play a decisive factor in finding the winner at the finish line on Piazza del Campo, in the heart of Siena. In total, the riders will have to tackle 10 gravel sections during the 200km race.
 
“It would be very difficult to single out one section as being the most important. In fact, all of them are equally important and have to be approached with great attention. Some sections might be less physically demanding but are still as crucial”, Cenghialta explains.
 
“In an 'easy' section all the riders will want to position themselves, something that can cause risky situations or increase the possibilities of crashes. But on the more difficult sections, this risk might not exist because the strongest riders will have an advantage. Still we will have to be very careful and never let our guard down”.
 
Peter Sagan has twice finished second, in both 2013 and 2014, while Roman Kreuziger has finished fifth in 2014 and sixth in 2012.