The course is twisty and undulating, with no extended climbs but with quite a few punchy bits, especially on the unpaved sections of the route. There are roughly 82 km of gravel roads, across 16 sectors, 13 of which are shared with the Women Elite course.
The race starts near the Stadium/Fortezza Medicea in Siena. The first undulating kilometers on tarmac lead to the 4.4 km-long gravel sector 1, which is perfectly straight and slightly downhill.
Sector 2 (4.8 km) is just a few kilometers away; this will be the first tricky bit of the race, with a short descent followed by a long climb featuring sections over 10%. Upon reaching Radi, the route takes in the third gravel sector (4.4 km long; namely the second part of the first gravel road stretch of the race’s first edition) shortly followed by sector 4 – named “La Piana” – one of the race’s classic gravel sectors (6.4 km in length, and featured in the course ever since the first edition) with no significant gradient, leading to Buonconvento.
The Montalcino climb, the second ascent of the day (4 km at 5%), is just a few kilometers away. Sectors 5 (11.9 km) and 6 (8 km) begin just past Torrenieri, with only 1 km of tarmac in between. Both are hard, hilly and very punchy, with many challenging bends, climbs and descents.
After the second pass through Buonconvento, riders will face the new Serravalle sector (9.3 km), which ends just before the start of the next sector, San Martino in Grania (9.4 km), set amidst the Crete Senesi. This gravel sector is long and features a series of gentle undulations in its first part, and ending with a twisting climb that leads back to paved roads.
Sector 9 begins in Ponte del Garbo (Asciano). At 11.5 km, it’s the hardest of the race, mostly uphill and marked by major slopes, especially near Monte Sante Marie, with steep gradients on both climbs and descents over short distances.
Past Castelnuovo Berardenga there’s a very short, flat unpaved section (300 m) followed by the eleventh dirt road sector, after Monteaperti. At only 600 m in length, it greets the riders with double-digit gradients. The route goes back on tarmac in Vico d’Arbia where the 30 km circuit begins.
Past Pieve a Bozzone, sector 11 (2.4 km) comes next, on the climb toward Colle Pinzuto, with gradients peaking as high as 15%. After a few kilometers, the route features the twelfth sector, Le Tolfe, (1.1 km), marked by a fast-running descent followed by a very punchy climb (with a maximum gradient of 18%). Shortly after Le Tolfe, upon the first passage, the route takes a first-ever ride on the Strada del Castagno (13th sector, 700 m), which leads to some challenging passes on tarmac all the way to Pontignano, Ponte a Bozzone and San Giovanni a Cerreto, where we enter the 14th sector (Montechiaro 3.3 km), which was covered in the first editions of the race. The circuit ends at the end of this sector, in Vico d’Arbia.
The sectors of Colle Pinzuto (15th) and Le Tolfe (16th) will be repeated before the route turns towards Siena with a little over 10 km left to the finish.
Final kilometers
The demanding final kilometers approach the city of Siena along wide and straight roads, connected by sweeping curves, initially downhill, and further on slightly uphill. With 2 km to go to the finish, the route takes the Via Esterna di Fontebranda; here the gradient touches 9%. The stone pavement begins 900 m before the finish line, just past the Fontebranda Gate. The gradient is over 10% until 500 m from the finish, reaching its steepest gradient of 16% along Via Santa Caterina. A sharp right-hand turn leads to Via delle Terme, and then to Via Banchi di Sotto. Starting 300 m to the finish onwards, the road is a slight, continuous ascent. With 150 m to go, a right turn leads into Via Rinaldini. The route enters the Piazza del Campo just 70 m from the finish line. The final 30 m descend at a gradient of 7% to the finish line, which is on level road.
Discover all the details of the Strade Bianche 2025, click here.