Alberto Bettiol set to lead EF Education-EasyPost at Strade Bianche alongside Ben Healy and Neilson Powless

After a disappointing start to their Spring Classics campaign, where they failed to crack the top-50 at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, EF Education-EasyPost will hope to turn things around at Strade Bianche this weekend, as they bring an incredibly strong team to Tuscany for this year’s race.

Alberto Bettiol will lead the line for the American team in his home race, as he continues to look for his first victory of the season after a steady performance at Trofeo Laigueglia in the middle of the week, where he finished in fifteenth place.

His best result at Strade Bianche came in 2020, when he finished just off the podium in fourth place. The Italian rider was forced to abandon last year’s race after he hit his head hard in a crash involving Magnus Sheffield with just under 40km to go.

He will be joined by fellow one-day racers Neilson Powless and Ben Healy, with Stefan de Bod, Mikkel Honoré and James Shaw also there to provide support. Richard Carapaz will also be in the team as he looks to prepare for the gravel stage at this year’s Tour de France. The Ecuadorian rider has previously competed at this race three times in his career, with his best result coming at his last appearance, where he finished thirtieth.

On the revised route for this year’s race, Bettiol said in an interview with Cyclingnews that “I went to see the new loop about a month ago. There’s nothing that we haven’t seen before or see every year at Strade Bianche but for sure the extra loop makes the race longer and harder”.