Otley's Lizzie Armitstead won the opening race of the new women's UCI World Tour - the Italian one-day classic Strade Bianche - in Tuscany, today.

The world champion followed up her victory in last week's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad with another impressive performance.

The 27-year-old was part of a three-rider break and accelerated away up the final climb to the Piazza del Campo in Siena to win by three seconds.

"We shared the work in the last 10km and I pulled away on the climb. It worked out really well," she said.

Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Rabo Liv) was second, with Sweden's Emma Johansson (Wiggle High5) 10 seconds further adrift after the 121km race, much of which takes place on gravel roads.

The World Tour is an 18 race series that replaces the World Cup which Armitstead has won for the past two years.