UAE Team Emirates’ line-up for the Strade Bianche

UAE Team Emirates will ride in the Strade Bianche race, their first event in Italy in 2018.

This quirky race will be held in Tuscany on March 3. Riders will cover 184 km, starting from and arriving in Siena. What makes this event particular is that the route will feature 11 stretches of dirt road for a total of 63 km.

Sports Director Daniele Righi (Italy), assisted by his colleague Mario Scirea (Italy), will call on the following 7 athletes:
– Valerio Conti (Italy)
– Marco Marcato (Italy)
– Manuele Mori (Italy)
– Przemyslaw Niemiec (Poland)
– Jan Polanc (Slovenia)
– Aleksandr Riabushenko (Belorussia)
– Diego Ulissi (Italy)

Diego Ulissi will be the team captain: “I’ve only participated in the Strade Bianche twice. In just a few years this race has become a prestigious appointment on the international calendar.
The last time I appeared in this race was 2016. I managed to give a nice performance, ending up in 7th place. The placement could have been even better, considering that I was in good shape, which is what kept me going.
I really hope I can count on strong legs like the ones I had two years ago, to stay in the lead group, which will inevitably become selective on the more challenging dirt road sectors. Hopefully I will be with some of my team mates, for example Mori, Niemiec and Marcato, all athletes with plenty of potential.
I should point out that in the Strade Bianche you must never underestimate the luck factor, considering that the tricky gravel roads can cause flats or slide-outs, which of course will affect performance.”