The Strade Bianche wants to be one of the monuments of cycling. There are only five on the calendar. But the Tuscany dirt slide race does not have more than 100 editions behind it, nor does the route exceed 250-260 kilometers. It lacks the distance and tradition that the other great races have. It has plenty of spectacularity but the eighteenth edition, the one of coming of age, barely lasted 134 kilometers. That’s what Tadej Pogacar decided, killing any emotion.
Directly from Monte Carlo, where he lives, the Slovenian champion shined like never before on his first day of competition. He said goodbye in 2023 on the podium at Il Lombardia and returned in 2024, conquering the Strade Bianche with a dazzling display.
Never before had genius unleashed his madness so quickly. He attacked 81 km from the finish line and left alone. He left everyone speechless. Also to the assistants of all the teams who saw him pass in the lead with more than a third of the race remaining. They were thirty kilometers further than his most dazzling attack, in this same race, 50 km from Siena.
But Pogacar, 25, is a man of his word. He, who had his hair styled with white highlights for the occasion, ensures the fun and complies. It was in the eighth section of sterrato, when there were seven more to go. He didn’t care. In Monte Santa Marie, 1 km of 10% powder, he didn’t think twice and destroyed Kuss, Vingegaard’s friend, who tried to follow him and ran into the wall of reality.
He was missing a long time but they no longer saw him. At the exit of that sterrato section, he was already 1m20s ahead of the Belgian Van Gils and almost two over the peloton. The recital was memorable, record-breaking. The destruction will remain in memory. Because unlike O Gran Camiño, where Vingegaard swept, there were 18 World Tour teams. And everyone, including Pidcock, the last winner, Lenny Martinez, the winner of the Laigueglia, and Van Eetvelt, the winner of the UAE Tour, had to fold despite being much more fit than him.
The Visma, who had Laporte, Valter and Kuss but not Van Aert, were never able to overshadow him or try to hunt him down. They dedicated themselves to staying hidden in the platoon.
“Why 80 kilometers? I don’t know,” Pogacar explained. “The race was fast from the start. After the storm Santa Marie was in tough conditions. So it was time. I knew it would be long but as soon as I saw the difference I had I knew I had to go alone to the finish line,” he said about his plan to join Cancellara, who has the record with three wins, and Kwiatkowski in the club of the only ones who have won more than once in Il Campo de Siena.
Pogacar triumphantly entered Via Santa Caterina and its fearsome 16% ramp, high-fiving fans, smiling and waving. When he crossed the finish line, he got off the bike and picked it up. In the nine previous editions, adding all the differences of the winner over the second added up to 2m30s. Pogacar won with 2m43s over the Latvian Skujins (Lidl), his pursuer was not immediate. Laporte, the first Visma, entered more than 5 minutes behind.
