Saturday, March 2, 2013

Strade Bianche: "Finalmente un italiano!"


"Finalmente un italiano! Finalmente un italiano!" (Finally an Italian! Finally an Italain!) the RAI commentator screamed into his microphone as Moreno Moser (Cannondale Pro Cycling), nephew of the great Francesco Moser, won the 2013 Strade Bianche. Since the race's inception in 2007 an Italian had been unable to win the race. Finishing 2nd and 3rd were Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling) at 0:00:06 and Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2R La Mondiale) at 0:00:07

"I've always thought this race suited me," said Moser. "I like selective races because I know I'm competitive when it starts to hurt. On the dirt roads, it's all down to yourself and what you have in your legs. You can’t worry about tactics too much in this race. I went because it was the right thing to do. I got a gap, looked back and then went for it. Me and my uncle are different kinds of riders but I suppose we're similar in lots of ways too, especially in how we race."

Final Kms in Italian:


Cannondale Pro Cycling video:


Related story:
About Moreno and the Moser dynasty

Prevous winners of Strade Bianche:
2012 Fabian Cancellara
2011 Philippe Gilbert
2010 Maxim Iglinskiy
2009 Thomas Lovquist
2008 Fabian Cancellara
2007 Alexandr Kolobnev

Photos: LaPresse for RCS Sport

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3 comments:

  1. Ciao! I love very much the Strade Bianche and I have a question: is there any chance for this race to become a Classic Monument? Why would it need to be in the same category with Flanders or Roubaix? Tradition, history? As far as I know, there is a history, with the Gran Fondo Eroica.

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  2. Pierre: I think Strade Bianche can eventually become a "classic" but it is too young now.

    Only 5 races are "monuments" and they all date to 1913 and earlier.

    The Strade Bianche was started as a result of the success of L'Eroica; the first L'Eroica was in 1997 and the first SB was in 2007.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for your answer! I really hope that Strade Bianche will become a true Classic.

    ReplyDelete