How to catch the women’s and men’s early-season racing from Italy
The 2024 Strade Bianche takes place on Saturday 2 March. Both the men’s and women’s races include multiple sections on Tuscany’s famous white roads, which give the race its name.
Both finish with the spectacularly steep climb to the Piazza del Campo in Siena. This includes sections of the Via Santa Caterina, which enters the ancient city and ramps up to a leg-busting 16 per cent gradient.
The last few races have been in dry conditions, which raises plumes of chalk dust as the riders traverse the sterrato white road sections. If things turn wet, it can lead to epic conditions like those in which Tiesj Benoot won caked in mud in 2018.
For 2024, the routes have been altered to include even more gravel sections: 40km over 12 sections for the women’s race and a total of 71km over 15 sections for the men’s, so expect even more spectacular vistas. The women’s race length is similar to 2023, but the men’s course has been extended from 184km to 215km.
Here’s how to see the action – wet or dry – live on TV, streaming online or on catch-up.
2024 Strade Bianche race schedule
The women’s race starts in Siena at 9.35am CET and includes 12 strada bianca sections, totalling more than 40km of the 137km course.
There are 24 women’s teams of seven riders taking part. This includes the 15 Women’s WorldTour teams, plus nine wildcards.
Last year, the race was won by Dutch rider Demi Vollering, who outpaced her SD Worx teammate Lotte Kopecky in a two-up sprint.
The men’s race now covers 215km and takes in 15 off-road sections, totalling 71.5km. This includes two sections of more than 11km long; the shortest is only 600m.
All 18 UCI Men’s WorldTour teams will be represented at the 2024 Strade Bianche, plus there are seven wildcard teams. That makes a total of 25 taking to the start line, with seven riders in each team.
Last year’s winner was Tom Pidcock of Ineos Grenadiers, who rode solo from around 50km to go, a similar distance to the winning solo break of Tadej Pogačar in 2022. Pogačar will be returning to Strade Bianche this year, having opted to ride, and win, Paris-Nice instead last year.
How can I watch Strade Bianche 2024 live in the UK?
Eurosport will show live coverage of the men’s and women’s editions of the 2024 Strade Bianche.
Coverage of the women’s race starts at 10.30am UK time, with men’s race coverage from 1pm and scheduled to continue until 4.30pm. As usual, there’s an on-demand option.
A standard Eurosport subscription costs £6.99 per month and is available on a range of platforms including tablets, mobile, TV with Chromecast or AirPlay, Android TV and Apple TV.
How can I watch Strade Bianche 2024 live in the US?
This year, FloBikes has rights to Strade Bianche in the US. Coverage starts for the women’s race at 5.50am ET and the men’s race at 8.05am ET. It’s also available on Max. Both require a subscription and offer on-demand catch-up.
How can I watch Strade Bianche 2024 live in Australia?
SBS will be covering the women’s and men’s racing live and on-demand, with live coverage of the women’s race on SBS Channel 3 and Channel 30 starting at 11.05pm AEDT for the women’s race and midnight for the men’s race. Again, there’s an on-demand option if you want to catch up the next morning.
How else can I watch Strade Bianche 2024?
There’s live terrestrial coverage in many European countries. Italian national broadcaster RAI is a race partner and official broadcaster, and will be broadcasting the race live and on-demand, with coverage of the women’s race on Raiplay starting at 12.05pm CET.
If you’ve got a VPN, you may be able to register, log in to its website and watch live for an authentic Italian commentary and feel.
How can I watch Strade Bianche 2024 if I can’t watch live coverage?
YouTube is a good option if you want shorter highlights and you don’t have on-demand access to any of the above sources. The Strade Bianche website also posts video and photo content.