Traditionally the Strade Bianche was the first of a pair of races alongside the Roma Maxima; the latter event, however, was cancelled in 2015 due to "organisational problems".

The Strade Bianche was part of the spring classics season, which began the week before with the Belgian races Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne.

These were often farm tracks and included both climbs and descents, as well as various additional challenges such as uneven surfaces, steep grades, and potholes; the longest such section covered a distance of 11.5 kilometres (7.1 miles).

[10] WorldTeams Professional Continental teams An early breakaway was formed by Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani–CSF), Giacomo Berlato and Daniele Colli (both Nippo–Vini Fantini), Giuseppe Fonzi (Southeast Pro Cycling), Artem Ovechkin (RusVelo), David Lozano (Team Novo Nordisk), Julián Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) and Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre–Merida).

This move was ended by attacks from the peloton behind on the Monte Sante Marie, which led to the formation of a new group of riders, including favourites for the race win Fabian Cancellara, Zdeněk Štybar, Alejandro Valverde, Greg Van Avermaet and Peter Sagan.

Valverde, however, had put significant effort into keeping the leading group clear of the chasers, and he was unable to respond to an attack from Van Avermaet at the bottom of the climb.