Gran Fondo Strade Bianche Estra

Key facts

Date:

8 mar 2026

Type:

Gran fondo / Ride

Siena · Toscana · Italy

Distances:

93/144 km

Elevation:

2.000 m

About

An amateur gran fondo held the day after the professional Strade Bianche WorldTour race, giving cycling enthusiasts the chance to ride the same roads that the world's best competed on just hours earlier. Starting from the historic centre of Siena, the 93 and 144 km routes traverse the clay hills and cypress groves of the Crete Senesi. The longer option includes 10 gravel sectors with up to 2,000 metres of total climbing, incorporating the most technical and iconic stretches of the professional course. Arriving at those limestone gravel sectors with fresh legs requires careful management of training load in the days before the event, an area where the Push Rider pre-competition taper approach makes a tangible difference. In Push Training 360, the Strade Bianche tapering protocol progressively reduces volume while preserving intensity, and the coach maps out a sector-by-sector race strategy so the athlete knows exactly when to push watts and when to conserve energy across all 10 gravel stretches.