Strade Bianche Donne 2023: Demi Vollering beats team-mate Lotte Kopecky in thrilling sprint finish

Dutch star Demi Vollering took the Strade Bianche Donne title on Saturday in thrilling fashion over defending champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) and Kristen Faulkner (Team Jayco-AIUla). Billed as a battle between world champion (and two-time winner) Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and last year’s victor, Belgium’s Kopecky (SD Worx), in the end the unstoppable Belgian team train rumbled on.

After a first one-two of the season a week ago at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, they gained a second perfect result on the white roads of Tuscany. Ad The race got off to a fast start, and the first 40km were completed in one hour and minutes.

That put them ahead of the fastest projected finish schedule. Strade BiancheWATCH — Crazy moment a horse gets out of fields and onto course at Strade BiancheAN HOUR AGO Unsurprisingly given the speed, despite a few early skirmishes, the peloton remained largely as one for most of its first 60km — albeit strung out in a 140-long line.

Four riders, Silvia Zanardi (BPK), Morgane Coston (Cofidis), Iurani Blanco Calbet (Laboral Kutxa Fundación Euskadi), and Alessia Vigilia (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo) were able to escape the peloton’s clutches and gain almost 50 seconds on the bunch. Of those, 23 year-old Silvia Zanardi was the rider most likely to pose a threat, though her best previous finish in Strade Bianche was 38th place last year.

Strade Bianche women's race As it happened — Vollering beats out Kopecky in sprint finish Kopecky proves she 'can do everything' in Omloop win With the fifth gravel sector approaching, the battle for a high position in the bunch began in earnest, increasing the pace of the large chasing group, and cutting the break's advantage in half. The five-star rated San Martino in Grania was