Strade Bianche 2024, March 2, one-day classic (men's)

[Bolder]

The truth is, 90% of this field was not prepared for how hard it was.

 

[Sciatic]

I loved all three.

I’m still yelling at Dumoulin—“stay on his wheel!”

 

[Unchained]

The truth is, 90% of this field was not prepared for how hard it was.

You think so? I just see it as not knowing you can go 40-80k alone, few riders can settle down after creating a gap and settle down to do an individual time trial , Pog always amazes me with hours of self punishment, guy is a rock

 

[KZD]

Great race that we witnessed today, Pogačar with another legendary performance, if this race serves as a point of reference I think this season, we will have the best version of Pogačar yet.

Skujinš and Van Gils also with very good performances especially the Latvian that crashed, they are looking like two of the best 'humans' in the peloton right now.

I don't think the course change made a huge difference if anything made the race even harder and more suited to the hilly classics riders.

Hope that riders like Van Aert and Van der Poel return in future editions or even Remco, Roglič or Vingegaard give it a go.

 

[SafeBet]

Biggest gap between first and second in a WT one day race since...?

 

[Cookster15]

Wow, just read this result. What an amazing start to the season by Pog. He is a legend already at just 25.

I like the way before the race he tells everyone where he will attack and then does exactly that. Amazing. And to be so strong as to attack so far out and win by such a margin is equally amazing.

 

[RobertCrawley]

Looks like Tadej is primed for another great year! He Eddy Merckx-ed it!

 

[Bolder]

You think so? I just see it as not knowing you can go 40-80k alone, few riders can settle down after creating a gap and settle down to do an individual time trial , Pog always amazes me with hours of self punishment, guy is a rock

With 90k to go, there were only about 30 riders still in the front group and most looked like they were barely holding on, let alone capable of attacking. Whereas Pog just danced up that hill.

I was surprised that Healy, Pidcock, or Mohoric, just to name a few, couldn't even stay on Pog's wheel for a few hundred meters.

But I take your point about confidence. Long range attacks are a skill, for sure.

 

[Extinction]

Phenomenal

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Creed did it mid race...Pog had time to do it mid race today:

 

[zlev11]

great race, it only sucks that we have to wait another year for the next Strade Bianche

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

great race, it only sucks that we have to wait another year for the next Strade Bianche

Not for me...terrible race. It would have been nice to have the other two riders, who are likely the only other two in the world who have the legs to have gone with him at 80K to go, in the race...then maybe a great race. As it happened, it was awful to watch, competition wise.

 

[zlev11]

Not for me...terrible race. It would have been nice to have the other two riders, who are likely the only other two in the world who have the legs to have gone with him at 80K to go, in the race...then maybe a great race. As it happened, it was awful to watch, competition wise.

yeah it would've been nice to have Vingegaard and Van der Poel here too

 

[roundabout]

Biggest gap between first and second in a WT one day race since...?

Bettini crushed everyone in one of the last Züri Metzgetes by 3 minutes or so.

Does that count as WT?

 

[Netserk]

Great race that we witnessed today, Pogačar with another legendary performance, if this race serves as a point of reference I think this season, we will have the best version of Pogačar yet.

Skujinš and Van Gils also with very good performances especially the Latvian that crashed, they are looking like two of the best 'humans' in the peloton right now.

I don't think the course change made a huge difference if anything made the race even harder and more suited to the hilly classics riders.

Hope that riders like Van Aert and Van der Poel return in future editions or even Remco, Roglič or Vingegaard give it a go.

I don't think the change in parcours affected how it relatively favoured climbers/rouleurs. Rather, its date and relative hardness is worse for Ronde/Roubaix than Ardennes.

Neither Van der Poel nor Van Aert races in March before Sanremo (and Van Aert skips that one too).

 

[Netserk]

Gilbert did it too, after others had revived it.

 

[zlev11]

i thought the course change kinda made the race lag a bit, there's really no reason for that extra loop, plus it meant we didn't really get to see the long sterrato sector before Sante Marie on the live coverage. i think 215k is a good distance but they should add it in the first half of the race instead.

 

[Netserk]

Bettini crushed everyone in one of the last Züri Metzgetes by 3 minutes or so.

Does that count as WT?

Yes, it was ProTour in 2005.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

yeah it would've been nice to have Vingegaard and Van der Poel here too

No, not Vingegaard, who puts Pogiclown in his place in July, Wout. He might not have taken it today, but he would have been able to force Pogiclown to make the race at a later km.

EDIT: and Mathieu wouldn't have won either, but Pogiclown might have only had to go solo for the last 30K.

 

[Bolder]

Not for me...terrible race. It would have been nice to have the other two riders, who are likely the only other two in the world who have the legs to have gone with him at 80K to go, in the race...then maybe a great race. As it happened, it was awful to watch, competition wise.

Agreed. I was pumped to watch it and it was a total letdown. That is not to take anything away from Pog and UAE, who were smart and strong.

 

[fbjim]

Bettini crushed everyone in one of the last Züri Metzgetes by 3 minutes or so.

Does that count as WT?

They should do that race again with the terrible looking velodrome where in one finish I rememver a camera moto entering the course and cutting perpendicularly like ten feet in front of the sprint

 

[zlev11]

No, not Vingegaard, who puts Pogiclown in his place in July, Wout. He might not have taken it today, but he would have been able to force Pogiclown to make the race at a later km.

EDIT: and Mathieu wouldn't have won either, but Pogiclown might have only had to go solo for the last 30K.

Wout would've been dropped with 30k to go sry

 

[Samamba]

Agreed. I was pumped to watch it and it was a total letdown. That is not to take anything away from Pog and UAE, who were smart and strong.

Those incredibly long solo's, doesn't matter from who, are just getting pretty boring. Even Remco himself, who does them all the time, said it during the final today in an interview. Not that great for the neutral viewer. But hey what can you do about it, it's obviously fun for the riders and teams doing it.

The new parcours doesn't help tho. It was already hard enough and now it's just possible to do a longer solo. All explosiveness is also gone in the end. If they want a 200km race just add some flat kms at the beginning.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I thought people wanted this to be a monument, they still have to add 40 kilometers of flat and then maybe you can think about taking out sectors.

 

[Põhja Konn]

A legendary ride if I ever saw one. Suspense in terms of identity of the winner might have evaporated quite early, but it was still magnificent to witness a historical ride unfold in real time.