On Saturday 8th March, Bahrain Victorious will be on the start-line of the legendary Italian race Strade Bianche for the ninth time. The 2025 edition features more of the race’s trademark gravel than ever before (82km) split between 16 sectors.
Two of the first six are especially tough, with the 11.9-kilometre Torrenieri kicking things off. The race organisers have also added 7th section for this year. When riders arrive at Monteaperti after 158 kilometres, they are almost at the start of a 30km circuit, to be completed twice.
The Colle Pinzuto (with gradients of up to 15%) and Le Tolfe (up to 18%) are extremely challenging in this loop, and after passing through Le Tolfe for a second time, they turn towards Siena, where the final climb is the steep ascent to the Piazza del Campo.
The team will be led by Pello Bilbao, with Matej Mohorič (5th last year) alongside him. More support comes from Afonso Eulálio, Robert Stannard, Nicolò Buratti, Max van der Meulen and Andrea Pasqualon.
Bilbao loves racing the white roads of Tuscany: “I am looking forward to one of my favourite races of the season. For me, it was a great discovery three years ago when I first tried Strade. At the beginning of this season, I found a really good condition and I think I can be pretty competitive. I didn’t ride Strade last year so I don’t know how much has changed with those extra kilometres they added. But I think it is a kind of classic that suits me well. Although it is going to be almost impossible to beat Tadej, I hope Matej and I can race intelligently and both be in the top ten. If we are lucky and things are ok it would be great to get on the podium.“
Gorazd Štangelj, Team Sports director said: “Pello is the leader. Matej was fifth last year, but we will still give preference to Pello, because Matej is not 100% yet healthy, as he has had a cold since “Tour of Provence”. All the others are support riders, it just depends on which part of the race, either immediately from the start or for as long as possible, and of course we want the result at the end. After the Santa Maria hill, which is always the turning point, we want to have 3 guys left, theoretically Pello, Matej, and Max or Robert. Everyone else will divide the work before. Afonso, our new Portuguese is in the race for the first time, Buratti already has skills for this race, as this is his second appearance, and Pasqualon is probably the most experienced, so we will use him the most at the beginning. After 105 km, however, the support riders will slowly fall away and will have a hard time coming back. The race will probably be challenging this year as Tadej Pogačar is competing. Another thing I want to point out is that this year they added another sector to the gravel, sector number 7, they added a new 9 kilometres. Where before there was a bit of a break and asphalt, they have now added this. Last year the race was extended by 30 kilometres, this year the number of kilometres remains the same, but as mentioned, there is more gravel. Last year there were 71 kilometres, and this year more than 81. And there are more sections, 16 to last year’s 15. There is also 200m more climbing, so on paper, this race is even tougher than last year.”
