Strade Bianche 2026, March 7, one-day race

[Krzysztof_O]

It's time for another edition of white road racing. The gravel race through winding roads of Tuscany, despite its short history, quickly became one of the most prestigious and liked non-monument one-day races. It's also the place where the alpha of cycling, Tadej Pogacar, begins his season. The route is shortened (202 km) compared to previous two editions (perhaps as a response to overly dominant Teddy's wins) but it still has a lot of climbing (3500 m) and gravel sectors. Will anyone threaten the dominator? Who will be on the podium? Pidcock had a very strong performance last year, Pogacar's superdom (Del Toro) is also a candidate for top spots and there's the French prodigy Seixas, who recently made another performance leap in Drome-Ardeche. The field is generally very stacked with top notch riders like Healy, Van Aert, Simmons, Carapaz, Jorgenson.

Profile and map:

Key sector, which could be the place of Pogi's attack 70-80 km from the line:

Another one (47 km from the line), another potentially key segment:

Favourites:

Pogacar *****
Pidcock, Del Toro ***
Healy, Simmons, Seixas and a few others **

 

[Earns1985]

Would really like to see van der Poel riding this race. Excluding Seixas unpredictability, he would still finish at least second here in my opinion.

Seixas is now basically the only dark horse, who could make the race interesting. Don´t see anyone else, who could challenge Pogacar.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Would really like to see van der Poel riding this race. Excluding Seixas unpredictability, he would still finish at least second here in my opinion.

Seixas is now basically the only dark horse, who could make the race interesting. Don´t see anyone else, who could challenge Pogacar.

Pidcock was very good last year but still was left in the dust by hurt Pogacar. Del Toro could benefit from Pogi's babysitting there (if the Slovenian is in generous mood). Seixas is an unknown but top3 is possible given his progress curve. It's a pity there's no Van der Poel, an all-time great in classics the previous winner after all. The route is more difficult than a few years back but he still would be contednting for top places (but heavy underdog vs Pogacar).

 

[SafeBet]

Del Grosso will start his season here. The profile is probably too demanding to expect anything but nice to see him ride Strade Bianche for the first time in his career.