Rain in the middle of the week has hardened the gravel and dampened the dust, so this year's Strade Bianche is expected to be a fast, mostly dust-free race.

The first Strade Bianche reconnaissance ride took place under heavy rain on Wednesday, but the weather improved on Thursday and Friday, with early spring sunshine expected on Saturday and temperatures rising to 14°C in the afternoon.

Wind was a major factor in last year's men's race, with many riders, including Julian Alaphilippe, blown off the road on an exposed gravel section on the famous Cretan Cienese clay hills.

Northeast winds of 15 km/h are forecast for Saturday. This wind will blow through most of the race route south of Siena, so riders who have fallen off or suffered punctures may have trouble getting back to the front.

The road surface on the 63km "Stellato" is slowly drying up, but dust and gravel will not affect the race. The riders will be covered in light white dust and sweat as they head for the finish in Siena.

"There was not much gravel because of the rain," Mathieu van der Pol said after Thursday's reconnaissance run.

"The off-road sections were okay, usually a bit more technical. But it's still a super hard race."

"It's a good race.

The weather in Tuscany in late winter and early spring is sometimes cold and wet, but often dry and sunny. The last Strade Bianche held in the rain was in 2018, when Tige Benuto won alone after a muddy Romain Bardet and young Wout Van Art stalled on the final climb into the center of Siena.

This year, the racers seemed lucky, even if Quinn Simmons and the rest of the Classics probably wanted to slug it out on the muddy gravel roads in the rain.

"I think Saturday will be a very fast race. Wednesday's rain has compacted the gravel, making it easier and faster to ride," Elena Cecchini (SD Walks) told VitiPro.

"The temperatures are not that cold. Last weekend in Belgium it was much colder. If Saturday is like this, I'll race in shorts and short sleeves."

Dry racing and compact gravels will be a challenge for Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers), Pero Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Sergio Iguita (Bora-Hansgrohe), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), and Mauri Vansevenin (Soudal-Quick Step) and others would have an advantage.

Nevertheless, Mathieu van der Pol (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Julian Alaphilippe (Sourdal-Quickstep), Benoot, Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), and locals Albert Bettiol (EF Education Easy Post), and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) remain the favorites to win in Siena.

"It's a shame that the best weather comes on race day. I wish training was sunny and Saturday was rainy," Simmons told Cycling News this week.

"The slower you ride up the climb, the better. The climbers go up so fast that it's hard to control them. Anything that slows them down, like cold or rain, helps."

"It doesn't look like it's going to rain, so it's going to be a fast race. That's still fine. I'll ride to win, just like everyone else lining up at the start."