Introducing L'Eroica Rosa

Some you win, some you lose. OK, a few races have fallen off the calendar this year, but if I offered you a section of strada bianca for every one of those races that stopped, would you calculate how many races you could afford to spare. Old Man.

The organisers of the Monte Paschi Strade Bianche have just announced that during the festivities that accompany the sportive version of L'Eroica there is to be an Eroica Rosa for Elite Women, run over those same roads. A race of 117.6km including almost 40km of those brilliant gravel roads. The race will be run on Sunday 26th September, starting at 9am in Gaiole in Chianti and finishing there a few hours later. Following that at 1:30 pm there will be the second edition of the U23 race.

Now unfortunately this year that comes a little close to the Worlds, certainly for anyone who is down to ride the time trial just three days later although I doubt that the contenders for the road race will want to undertake such a difficult course just before a 24 hour plane journey and a week of jetlag, but I hope that a good proportion of those not selected will be able to haul their hams over the Alps to show their support for the organisers. The clash shouldn't be so bad in future years, and this is the sort of race we like.