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SD Worx just keeps on rolling at the Strade Bianche Donne

Teammates sprint it out for spring classic glory

March 4, 2023
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For the the second weekend in a row, SD Worx has gone one-two at a spring classic, bossing Saturday’s Strade Bianche Donne in Sienna, Italy. Demi Vollering and Lotte Kopecky were the fastest in Tuscany, yanking back soloist Kristen Faulkner on the final climb and Vollering prevailed in the sprint. Alison Jackson was top Canadian in 40th.

The Course
Eight of the 11 sectors of the men’s route are shared with the Donne course, a total of 31.4 km of the 136 km. The longest stretch of gravel was Sector 5, 9.5 km with a kilometre climb of 6.9 percent to finish. Three sectors were in the final 24 km, the last with 12 km remaining. In Siena, with 900 metres to the finish line, the race route passed beneath Fontebranda Gate where the road turned to cobbles. The gradient kicked up to 10 percent until 500 metres from the line, with a maxiumum gradient of 16 percent along Via Santa Caterina.

The Canadian contingent was Olivia Baril of UAE Team ADQ and the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB duo of Alison Jackson and Sara Poidevin.

The first escape was reeled in before the first sector of sterrati, and after the first three sectors, the peloton was intact but stretched out under Canyon-SRAM’s work. A quartet launched before long Sector 5 but didn’t survive the gravel there.

No move went clear on Sector 5 but after Sector 6 a lone Jumbo-Visma rider flared out to try her luck. Eventually American Kristen Faulkner bridged over. The Jayco-AlUla rider then went solo on the final sectors of gravel.

Vollering lit out after Faulkner on the last sector. With 12 km to go Kopecky burst out of Group 3. The SD Worx duo came together and set about running down the American.

Vollering and Kopecky track down Faulkner in the final 7 km.

It took the final climb to doom Faulkner’s bid for glory. She was scooped up inside the Fontebranda Gate and dispatched on Via Santa Caterina. Vollering led out and then the teammates scrapped for the title, Kopecky throwing her bike a little early.

Better known for her cyclocross exploits, Puck Pieterse was an impressive sixth, just behind world champion Annemiek van Vleuten.

The next round of the Women’s WorldTour is March 11’s Miron Ronde van Drenthe.

2023 Strade Bianche Donne
1) Demi Vollering (The Netherlands/SD Worx) 3:50:35
2) Lotte Kopecky (Belgium/SD Worx) s.t.
3) Kristen Faulkner (USA/Jayco-AlUla) +0:10
40) Alison Jackson (Canada/EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) +7:12
61) Olivia Baril (Canada/UAE Team ADQ) +8:24
69) Sara Poidevin (Canada/EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) +10:34