Follow me on Twitter to stay updated : https://twitter.com/Tizucumacu Siena - Siena - 176 km Siena - Siena - 176 km ********************************************************************************************************************************************** Fabian Cancellara won his third Strade Bianche on Saturday, edging out last year’s winner Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-QuickStep) in a thrilling finale on the tight streets of Siena. Stybar’s teammate, Gianluca Brambilla came home in third having done his best to soften up the lead group that had formed on the penultimate sector of dirt track. The other member of that group was Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), who rolled in behind for fourth. The Italian race, first run in 2007, has quickly established itself as a popular event in the course of the Spring Classics, and a firm favourite in the eyes of Cancellara, who has now written himself into Strade Bianche legend. The race organisers promised to name a sector of the iconic dirt track after him if he took his third win, and the jubilant Swiss rider raised three fingers as he crossed the line before celebrating wildly with his camp and lifting his bike above his head. "This year I really want to go out with a bang," Cancellara said. "I want to thank all my teammates for supporting me today, and all these years. This is just amazing! "I knew that Stybar is a cyclo-cross guy, so I had to be careful for him. He won last year as well, and he is very good at this last climb. I am very, very happy. Third time…and now they will name a white gravel section after me, and that's exciting." The 34-year-old was alive to the threat when Sagan attacked from a massively thinned-out bunch on the penultimate sector with just under 20km to go, forming the crucial selection. Sagan caught lone leader Brambilla, who had been in a four-man move in the second half of the race, Stybar joined, and Cancellara bridged across. Etixx-QuickStep had the extra man but, unlike at the 2015 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, they didn’t come away empty-handed through tactical shortcomings - but rather Cancellara's superior strength and know-how. As expected, Brambilla put in multiple attacks to soften up Sagan and Cancellara, and he actually managed to hold a lead from 5km to 500m to go. The Italian, however, buckled on the viciously steep climb up towards the Piazza del Campo and was cooked as he crested it. Cancellara and Stybar were soon round him and Cancellara, crucially, managed to lead through a sharp right-hand band with 100m to go. With the road heading downhill to the line, that was the moment he secured the victory, and Stybar was never going to get round. "I made the pace on the final climb because I knew that Sagan would not do it because I saw him already in a little bit of difficulty. I knew that it was probably going to be Stybar and me, so I had to play like this," Cancellara said. "This is special. I had to play at the end, it was a lottery. I knew I had to risk. I had trust in myself; it was experience. I knew that Etixx was going to play the team game and I just had to make sure that Brambilla did not take too much time. "The most decisive moment was when Peter made the acceleration and I managed to jump up to him and Stybar. It wasn't a big collaboration between us because we are all big riders, plus Etixx had a team game to play. I think my work in the last 5 kilometers was risky, but it was the only way. It all worked out and I am proud." A group of other pre-race favourites, including Alejandro Valverde, Greg Van Avermaet, and Jakob Fuglsang, rolled across the line disjointedly around half a minute later after giving chase ever since Sagan’s acceleration. Vincenzo Nibali and Michal Kwiatkowski were initially part of that chase group but fell away with 10km remaining. Results : 1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 4:39:35 2 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step 3 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:04 4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:00:13 5 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:34 6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:37 7 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre - Merida 0:00:41 8 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 9 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky 10 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:50

• published: 05 Mar 2016
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