A hard day of racing at Strade Bianche saw Team dsm-firmenich PostNL’s Women’s program take on the famous white roads, with this year’s edition of the race including even more gravel sectors than previous years. Unfortunately, potential finisher Juliette Labous had to pull out pre-race due to illness and co-finisher Pfeiffer Georgi also abandoned during the race not feeling well. It left a young squad of Josie Nelson, Francesca Barale, Eleonora Ciabocco and Nienke Vinke to try their best, with Barale and Vinke surviving with the bunch for as long as possible before they had to let go. It would ultimately be Barale that led the team home on the day to the iconic finish in the Piazza del Campo.
Speaking after the race Barale said: “It was a really tough race but we knew that already, Strade is always one of the toughest. I think we did a really good job at the start with the positioning and following the plan as how we wanted it. Pfeiffer unfortunately didn’t feel great so she abandoned, so it was up to Nienke and me to try and survive. We tried our best but I think for now this is my level. I still need to make some steps to get in the deep final to race with the best but I’m pretty happy about my day. It’s a shame that Pfeiffer couldn’t do a nice final but I think overall we worked well as always. We’ve had some bad luck so far this classics season but there are plenty more opportunities to come and I’m sure we’ll take them.”