8th March – Strade Bianche: Siena – Siena
One of the most scenic races of the year, Strade Bianche, saw the peloton return to the rolling white roads of Tuscany. However, it was unfortunately a day of bad luck for Team Picnic PostNL who were either caught up in or behind crashes, or suffered untimely issues ahead of the key sectors of gravel. When TV coverage started with over 80 kilometres to go it was just Chris Hamilton left in the reduced peloton of around 30 riders, before he ultimately had to let go of the group. Gritting his teeth, Hamilton rode it in to the line in Siena after what was a challenging day for the team.
Hamilton expressed: “It was a crazy day as usual at Strade. Unfortunately, we had some pretty bad luck with Kevin having a mechanical early on. Max then had a puncture at a bad moment before he was then involved in a crash. In the end I was the only one left in the front group for the team and I tried to hold on for as long as possible and did what I could.”
An update on Poole can be found here.