Top riders take wrong route at Strade Bianche Donne
A group of pre-race favourites ended up taking the wrong route at Strade Bianche Donne as they were chasing the front group, putting paid to their chances of returning and contesting victory in Siena.
The incident occurred with just under 33km remaining when a chasing pack veered off course, following a race motorbike that took a right-hand turn onto a gravel road. The riders ended up going a few hundred metres off course, and they lost significant time as they returned to the correct road. The incident all but ended the hopes of the chasers.
The chasing pack featured the likes of defending champion Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez), Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal), Lotte Kopecky and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), and Pauline Ferrand-PrĂ©vot (Visma | Lease a Bike).Â
Vollering and Ferrand-PrĂ©vot were among those who had suffered untimely mechanicals on the Le Tolfe sector with 42km remaining, leaving them with a chase to the front group of 13 riders.Â
The gap was a little over a minute before the incident, but quickly swelled to around the three-minute mark as a result.Â
Result: Strade Bianche Women
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