The 2018 edition of the Dangarsleigh Bianche, the now well-established first classic in the Armidale Cycling Club race calendar is now less than one week away. This year, the brutal Forest D’Angersleigh sector on Dangars Falls Road is back, increasing the appeal for pure classic racers and reducing the likelihood of soft roadie riders winning on delicate equipment. This year, we go back to the heart of classics racing, pitting riders against the brutal forces of mother nature and the best grading equipment of Armidale Regional Council.

There are three challenging sectors of white Tuscan gravel to contend with on the 34km course, including the infamous Hors Category assault of Knobs Hill, guaranteed to shake things up before the race reaches its climax on the Piazza del Kingdom Hall.

This is a club race, open to anyone with a valid Cycling Australia road race licence and as always we welcome entries from other local clubs. With UCI approval now granted we can allow bikes with disc brakes so CX and MTB bikes are welcome. We’re also running it as a massed start event and there’s even been talk of having a Le Mans “run to your bikes” start just to make things really interesting (so put some old inner tubes round your cleats to get an extra few seconds advantage).

The race starts at the slightly earlier time of 3pm on Saturday 24th March, leaving from the usual Dangarsleigh Road location on the edge of town. From there riders race out on sealed roads to the Dangarsleigh Monument where they turn left and embark on the first 5 star gravel sector. They rejoin Enmore road via Black Lane, travel up to the 15km turn and then track back around 3km, before making a hard left into the other side of Black Lane for Sector 2. From there it’s briefly back onto Dangarsleigh Rd for another 2.5km, then left again, this time into Knobs Rd and Sector 3 before finally emerging back onto Dangarsleigh Rd for the last 2km sprint home.

All up there is 34km of racing with three gravel sectors totaling 14km. The last of these (Knobs Hill) is a great spot for spectators if you want a first-hand view of the action. The race will be on whatever the weather – in the highly unlikely event of it raining on the day a bit of mud will only make things more exciting.

In case you need any further incentive to compete, the impressively heavy 5kg trophy, engraved with prior winners (Harrison Munday 2015, Dave Jenner 2016 and Jo Wauch 2017) will be awarded to the victor on the day.

Finally, just as in the real Strade Bianche, a rider who successfully wins three titles will have a sector named after them in perpetuity. So start working on those hand-cut tubulars in the shed along with the floating forks and suspended seatposts you know will give you an edge on the day and mark your calendars for the race that simply cannot be missed – the very unique Dangarsleigh Bianche – 3pm Saturday 24th March 2018.