Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) produced one of the great Classics rides as an 81km solo attack delivered him a stunning second title at Strade Bianche.
The Slovenian had hyped up a move on the fabled Monte Sante Marie climb in his pre-race interview. Few took him seriously or considered it a genuine possibility until he executed the attack, racing clear on the five-star sector of sterrato with over 30% of the race remaining.
It occurred as the heavens opened in Tuscany, reducing rider visibility and turning white chalk dust roads to grey-brown slurry. As well as taking place in worse weather than usual, the race was designed to be harder as the organisers push for it to be recognised as a Monument. For the first time in its 18 editions, the course length tipped over the 200km point, with a finishing loop incorporated and two of the harder gravel sections passed twice.
Most of the first 100km of racing was conducted without incident, as a group of five riders, among them Jayco Alula’s Lawson Craddock enjoyed a modest lead for the better part of two hours. UAE Team Emirates were in no mood to let a break go deep into the race however, reeling the riders in with nine sterrati remaining.
For one more the race was altogether but the signs were ominous as the clouds darkened overhead. As the bunch reached sterrato Sante Maria, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) received the nod from his captain, hit the front and rode hard for a few kilometres in the rain, before moving aside for Pogacar to make history.
‘I don’t know why!’ – Even Pogacar unsure over wild solo attack
Within five kilometres the 25 year-old, five-time Monument winner was more than a minute to the good. Another 10km was all it took to double that, leaving those behind relying on him to crack, crash or suffer an unfortunate mechanical. None of that happened, or ever looked as if it might.
The peloton had no sense of how to collectively respond to an unprecedented situation, even if it had been telegraphed hours earlier. Stop-start attacks on loose gravel only favoured the lone leader and it was as if the rest were playing for the podium, while having little idea even how they would do that.
From his second attempt of the afternoon, Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) was the first rider to successfully break free of the bunch. The young Belgian flew solo on the Le Tolfe sector, 40km out and was largely, to their subsequent regret, ignored by the big names left in the peloton. After 13km it was clear to all that this was a move to take seriously, and Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek), who had early been taken out by team-mate Quinn Simmons, set off on the hunt.
Pogacar laps up applause as he cruises to superb Strade Bianche win
It was a smart move from Skujins who was able to link up with Van Gils with 20km and just a couple of gravel sectors remaining. By that point, if it hadn’t been for some time, Pogacar’s victory was assured and the pair were at best fighting it out for second place.
An even later move by last year’s winner Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) proved too little, though was suitably timed for him to take a relatively comfortable fourth place.
Pogacar entered Siena’s city limits with a faint grimace on his face but safe in the knowledge the win was in the bag. As he cruised up the final climb and through the finish in Piazza del Campo, he sent out a statement to the likes of Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel ahead of his bid for a Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double in 2024.
Pogacar’s margin over Skujins of 2’44” was not just the biggest in the race’s history, but the only time Strade Bianche has been won by more than a minute. As with so much in the rider has achieved in his short career, it seemed impossible until he did it.
Asked afterwards why he decided to go from so far out, Pogacar seemed unsure himself.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “The race was really fast from the start and quite selective super early, which I don’t think anyone expected. We came to Sante Maria and the conditions were really tough. There was no more resources left in the group.
“It was a moment when it was really muddy and you couldn’t see anything, so I decided to go on the attack. I knew that it’s going to be long but when I had a gap I knew I could go to the end.”
Skujins and Van Gils left their own private podium battle to the last, with Skujins coming out on top in front of the crowds lining the climb, just ahead of the summit.
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