For the second consecutive year, Strade Bianche will exceed the 200 km mark, which last season proved to make the race more grueling: in total, 16 white road sectors will be on the menu of Saturday's 213 km race that will start from the Fortezza Medicea in Siena and take the group through the unpaved road sections of Monte Sante Marie, Colle Pinzuto, and Le Toffe, to name just a few familiar stretches...

The big news is that the organizers have decided to increase the number of kilometers of gravel roads that the group will face, for a total of 81.7 kilometers of white roads. Once the dust settles on all these sectors, another obstacle will remain in the path of those hoping to claim glory: the steep climb of Via Santa Caterina – with its maximum gradients of 16% just 500 meters from the finish line in the beautiful Piazza del Campo.

Strade Bianche will mark Mikel Landa's first seasonal outing in what will be the Basque rider's debut in the prestigious Italian race that Soudal Quick Step has won three times, and Mikel can't wait: "It's a new race for me and I'm excited because I've always loved watching it on TV. I know it will be completely different to be there on the ground, in the middle of the action, but I'll try to do my best, enjoying the experience in the opening race of my season".

Landa, who last year finished in the top ten in both the Tour and the Vuelta, will be accompanied by Mattia Cattaneo, Gianmarco Garofoli, Pepijn Reinderink, Pieter Serry, Mauri Vansevenant – who just finished ninth in O Gran Camiño – and Louis Vervaeke, the winner of the second stage of the Tour of Oman.

"It's one of the most beautiful, but also one of the toughest races of the season, and we are motivated to give our all and leave everything out there. It won't be easy and we're not starting as favorites, but we have a solid team that comes to the start after some good results last week, so we are confident in our possibilities and want to fight to obtain a good result," said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Davide Bramati.