The 2008 Monte Paschi Eroica was the second edition of the

Monte Paschi Eroica The Strade Bianche (; ) is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name stems from the historic white gravel roads in ...

, later named ''Strade Bianche'', held on 8 March 2008. It is a professional

road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, Italy, starting in

Gaiole in Chianti Gaiole in Chianti is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Siena in the Italy, Italian region Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about northeast of Siena. ''Forbes'' named it number one in its list of "Europe's Most Idyl ...

and finishing in

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

. The race was 181 km, including seven sectors of ''strade bianche'', totaling 56,1 km of gravel road. Swiss rider

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss people, Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He is known for being a qual ...

won the race in a two-man sprint with

Alessandro Ballan Alessandro Ballan (born 6 November 1979) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for UCI World Tour team . He is best known for winning the 2008 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, World Road Rac ...

. The duo had caught early Canadian escapee

Ryder Hesjedal Eric Ryder Hesjedal (; born December 9, 1980) is a Canadian retired professional racing cyclist who competed in mountain biking and road racing between 1998 and 2016. Hesjedal won a silver medal at the 1998 Junior, 2001 Under-23, and Elite world ...

at nine kilometer from the finish and headed into Siena's

Piazza del Campo Piazza del Campo is the main piazza, public space of the historic center of Siena, a city in Tuscany, Italy, Its name comes from the Italian language, Italian word ''campanilismo,'' which translates to "local pride" and ''campanile'' "bell tower." ...

, where Cancellara took the win after hitting the front with 150 metres to go. 63 riders finished.

Results

References

External links

Strade Bianche The Strade Bianche (; ) is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name stems from the historic white gravel roads in ...

Strade Bianche {{Italy-cycling-race-stub