As Julian Alaphilippe headed to the podium to be celebrated as the winner of this year's Strade Bianche, Greg Van Avermaet could look back at his own race and admit that "the strongest man in the race won."
'Golden Greg' is always graceful in defeat but his comments carefully hid the whole truth about Strade Bianche and the other five one-day races so far contested: Deceuninck-QuickStep again used their strength in numbers to win just as they did at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne. They have also won with five different riders, a further indication of their strength in depth and their team unity. It is a devastating combination.
Deceuninck-QuickStep team manager Patrick Lefevere has been adept at using his strong roster to dominate the Classis for years but after Tom Boonen's retirement and now Niki Terpstra's move to Direct Energie, the Belgian team has become even more of a collective, a cooperative of hard workers and classy riders, with the incentive of big bonuses and careful management of ambition creating a team that is always hungry for success.
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At Strade Bianche, Deceuninck-QuickStep again used their combined strength to help Alaphilippe win. The team was under pressure to back him and the Frenchman was under pressure to pay them back for their support.
Deceuninck-QuickStep realised sooner than most of their rivals that the 3173m of climbing, often on the 63km of dirt roads, means that Strade Bianche is more suited to climbers than cobbled specialists. Alaphilippe had never ridden Strade Bianche but was convinced that his bike handling skills make him ideal for the dirt roads, while his climbing skills – testified by his Fleche Wallonne success – meant that the steep climb of Via Santa Caterina up to the finish in central Siena was an opportunity rather than an obstacle.
While Peter Sagan is hoping to be competitive through until Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Alaphilippe did the opposite and moved his goals forward and built his spring campaign on a March peak that spans from Strade Bianche to Milan-San Remo. He raced the Vuelta a San Juan and then Colombia 2.1 as preparation and then stayed on in Colombia for further altitude training to build towards his early-spring objectives.
Check mate to Deceuninck-QuickStep
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/deceuninck-quickstep-use-strength-in-depth-to-dominate-strade-bianche-analysis
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