On Saturday, Richie will ride his Cannondale LAB71 SuperSix EVO onto the white Tuscan roads with big ambitions, ready to throw himself into the fray. He wants to race for the win all the way to the Piazza del Campo in Siena. Over 80 kilometers of dirt lie ahead of him first. Richie cannot wait.

“I started riding a bike on dirt roads,” Richie says. “Strade reminds me a lot of that. Strade Bianche is a very special race for that reason. It is like going back in time. There's a lot of competition, a lot of stress, and a lot of things that make it an interesting race. It is total chaos, but I love it. It is very fun.”

Richie will trust his Cannondale LAB71 SuperSix EVO for the Tuscan classic. Richie’s bike is a pure racing machine. Feathery light and stiff where it counts, it’s built to dive into corners and accelerate out of them, rocketing forward with every pedal stroke.

He will ride 30mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tubeless tires with Air-Liner inserts mounted to his Vision Metron 45SL wheels. The wider rubber will ensure a plusher ride over the roughest sectors of gravel. Air-Liners add an extra dimension of safety in case of a puncture. If one of his tires loses pressure, Richie will be able to push on and stay in the race until a team car arrives with a spare wheel.

“You never know what's going to happen at Strade,” Richie says. “Anything can happen. It's really crazy, but I like it, even if I have always had bad luck in the past. It's a race where you suffer, where you go full gas from the start. I enjoy that adrenaline rush.”

Richie will maneuver over the Tuscan hills from his SystemBar R-One cockpit, which Cannondale engineered in collaboration with motorsports icons momodesign. His Fizik Vento Argo R1 saddle will keep him comfortable across the full 213-km distance of Strade Bianche. FSA 54-40 chainrings paired with an 11-34 cassette will provide a full range of gears for all the terrain he is about to encounter.

Richie uses Wahoo SPEEDPLAY AERO pedals and tracks his data with his Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM.

Right now, the only number he is focused on is his spot on Saturday’s results sheet in Siena. He is going for number one.

It’s Strade Bianche and Richie Carapaz is going to go all out.

Check out the full specs of his race bike.