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News & RacingStrade BiancheTadej PogačarTom PidcockUAE Team EmiratesDemi VolleringPauline Ferrand-PrévotAnna van der BreggenConnor Swift#post-format-gallery
It may not be a Monument, but of the many sure things about Strade Bianche, at the very top is its utter beauty. And as past editions have proven, the weather makes no difference to that fact, but it certainly did the race no harm that Saturday 8th March dawned bright and fair, the region's iconic cypress trees casting sharp shadows across the white roads of Tuscany.
The women got things underway in the late morning, and a much-anticipated duel eventually unfolded on the run-in to Siena's picturesque old town, resulting in a second – and arguably more meaningful – career victory for Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), and a first win for a team not called SD Worx since 2020.
Then it was the turn of the pro men and the inevitable solo victory of world champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), but mamma mia, was there more to it than that headline describes.
There have been more dramatic and compelling finales than we saw in both 2025 races, but once again, Siena and Tuscany put on a show, Strade Bianche once again staking a strong claim to the status of most visually beautiful event of the year.
Full reports of the women's and men's races are available here at Escape Collective, but for a visual retelling of both, this gallery views Strade Bianche through the lenses of top photographers Ashley and Jered Gruber, Kristof Ramon and Cor Vos.
The calm before the storm.FDJ-Suez and new team leader Demi Vollering carried a heavy weight of expectation in only her second WorldTour one-day race as de facto leader of the French team.Anna van der Breggen also felt some of that weight, returning to the race she won in 2018 a few months before becoming world champion – this was also her first WorldTour-level event since 2021.The women's peloton set out on a 136-kilometre route incorporating 13 sectors of sterrato (gravel).There were early attempts to get away, including from Franziska Brauße (Ceratizit-WNT) and Virginia Bortoli (Top Girls Fassa Bortolo), but the peloton ultimately stayed together for a couple of hours of hard and fast racing through the Tuscan countryside.Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto, Visma-Lease a Bike, FDJ-Suez and UAE Team ADQ – for favourite Elisa Longo Borghini who unfortunately fell ill during the race – were particularly busy on the front of the peloton.Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto was looking after Kasia Niewiadoma who has been a consistent top-10 finisher at Strade Bianche, including three second places in a row from 2016. However, a crash would see the reigning Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift champion leave the 2025 race in an ambulance. Fortunately, the Polish all-rounder came away with only minor abrasions.Visma-Lease a Bike came with a stellar lineup to support a justifiably ambitious Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in her return to one-day road racing. Fem van Empel was particularly at home off-road.Niamh Fisher-Black was making her European debut for Lidl-Trek after a positive start to the year in Australia and New Zealand.It was a busy day for the mechanics and support crew that surround the professional pelotons.2016 winner Lizzie Deignan – the first rider, male or female, to win Strade Bianche in the rainbow bands – didn't have much luck in her sixth and last appearance.Fans of all ages and species turned out for Tuscany's most-beautiful bike race.The race entered a new phase about 40 km from Siena when a strong group broke clear of the reduced peloton, including Ferrand-Prévot and 2020 runner-up Mavi García (Liv AlUla Jayco).Mauritius national champion Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep) also made the cut, along with 2023 Tour de France stage winner Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck), Marta Berg Edseth (Uno-X Mobility) and – not pictured – Évita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) and Femke Gerritse (SD Worx-Protime).Ferrand-Prévot did a lot of work on the front of the breakaway, in which there was a number of passengers, like Muzic and Kastelijn whose leaders Vollering and Puck Pieterse were in the chase around half a minute behind.The peloton was now a rather small chase group.Gerritse had already been on the move alone before making it into the break, but the winner of last week's Omloop van het Hageland would be the first to fade as the dusty gradients began to bite. And the rest would be caught soon after.Anna van der Breggen was well positioned as the pack, now the front of the race, entered the final sector. The former world champion gave herself a headstart on the steeper stretch towards the end of the sterrato, where Vollering made light work of catching her former teammate then coach.Ferrand-Prévot was close behind, with Juliette Labous careful to mark. Both of them had already had a very busy afternoon, one of them in the attack, the other chasing hard for her teammate. They were not able to follow when Vollering made her stinging acceleration over the top of the short climb, but both formed part of the race for third.Vollering and Van der Breggen rode together all the way into Siena, right up until the steeper stretch of the infamous Via Santa Caterina that leads up towards the Piazza del Campo. After Van der Breggen led the pair into the base of the climb, Vollering accelerated hard up the canyon-like street and the older rider had no answer.Before this season, Van der Breggen had been Vollering's DS and personal coach at SD Worx for a number of years, after spending one season as teammates in 2021 following Vollering's transfer from Parkhotel-Valkenberg.The last time the pair truly raced one another was at the autumnal Ardennes Classics in 2020, where Van der Breggen won her sixth of seven La Flèche-Wallonne titles in a row. This though, is a big step forward for the 34-year-old in only the sixth race day of her renaissance career.The race for third came down to a stiff duel between two of the race's key protagonists, Ferrand-Prévot just managing to hold Labous at bay on the dip down into the Piazza.Labous still had plenty of reason to celebrate though, having been a key component in Vollering's victory, and helping to wrestle the race free of the SD Worx-Protime outfit.Margaux Vigié took away a unique souvenir.Swiss national champion Noemi Rüegg was EF Education-Oatly's top finisher in 9th, making her European debut for 2025 after a successful Aussie summer.A tough race was had all round.But Vollering couldn't have been happier.Then it was time for the men's race, and the highly anticipated return of Tadej Pogačar – seen here giving a high/low-five to compatriot Jan Tratnik before the start – who showed up in an all-white skinsuit for the white roads of Tuscany.The world champion's fans were out in force.Dust was the order of the day after a week of dry weather and warm temperatures all day.The break of the day formed promptly, comprising Johan Price-Pejtersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Stan Dewulf (Decathlon-AG2R), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers), Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Wanty), Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek), Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-QuickStep), Anders Foldager (Jayco-AlUla), Fabian Weiss (Tudor Pro Cycling). A couple more had shown interest, but terrain, pace and even crashes ruled them out, with Javier Serrano (Polti VisitMalta) fracturing his radius in the early goings.Connor Swift was clearly one of the strongest in the break, put there partly as a potential aid to two-time winner Michał Kwiatkowski. Ultimately, he would find himself in the race for the podium.Meanwhile, in the peloton, UAE Team Emirates and Q36.5 were most interested in setting the pace over the early sectors.In a particularly crash-marred and quick edition of Strade Bianche, Christian Scaroni was one of the victims early on, the XDS Astana rider ending a run of excellent form with a nasty collection of road rash and a suspected shoulder injury – he was later cleared of anything serious, but it was a disappointing end to a weekend of high hopes for the 27-year-old Italian.Tosh van der Sande looked a bit lost. Up the creak without a paddle, or on the gravel without a pedal...The Tuscan countryside: one of the reasons this race is so revered, a very big one at that.It didn't take long for Tom Pidcock to find the world champion's wheel and glue himself to it.Punctures and crashes continued to be an issue throughout the men's race, which significantly reduced the size of the bunch, led all the while by UAE Team Emirates-XRG.*Chef's kiss*Francesco Busatto (Intermarché-Wanty) was one of the many riders who crashed during the race, but the 22-year-old Italian persevered and finished the race.22-year-old Gianmarco Garafoli (Soudal-QuickStep) also hit the deck hard, smashing up his hand in the process.UAE Team Emirates-XRG lifted the pace in preparation for the inevitable launch of Pogačar, the last of his teammates being put to work on the Sante Marie sector where he attacked last year.Isaac Del Toro had just pulled off having split the bunch, then Tim Wellens took over with one last burst. The first to attack, though, was Pidcock in anticipation of the world champion's own effort, which came almost instantaneously.Pogačar and Pidcock left the bunch behind, passed the last surviving breakaway riders and gathered up Connor Swift, the only one who could follow, though only for about 20 km.Tuscany's gorgeous topaz blue hills provided a stunning backdrop as the race blew apart in the wake of Pogačar's attack.Last year's runner-up Toms Skujiņš (Lidl-Trek) suffered some bad luck in his return to the sterrati and eventually raced to 12th.Richard Carapaz had an anonymous Strade Bianche, a race he's never really made his mark on. However, his motivation to race will have been coloured by a desire to recon stage 9 of the upcoming Giro d'Italia, where he's targeting the overall title.Marc Hirschi (Tudor) raced to 24th, actually his best career finish at Strade Bianche, a race that seems to suit his characteristics but where he's yet to play a major role.As Pogačar and Pidcock increased their advantage, a small chase group formed including Ben Healy (EF Education-Easypost), Bello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Roger Adrià (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tim Wellens.Pogačar, Pidcock and passenger Swift – perfectly permissible after his day in the break – stretched the elastic until it broke.But then in a moment of chaos, Pogačar was sent tumbling into a field after going into a downhill corner far too fast – he would later apologise to his companions, confirming it had been his own fault – which meant he lost about half a minute to Pidcock, and needed a spare bike.Pidcock initially cracked on alone, but once Pogačar was back up and running, and charging into the gap, the young Brit let up and gave himself a breather while the world champion caught up.Pogačar had apparently intended to go on the attack again on the sector after his crash about 40 km from the finish, but that was derailed and instead he took a moment to assess his injuries on Pidcock's wheel.Swift meanwhile, had finally succumbed to the blistering pace, and he was soon caught by the chase group ... and dropped.Pidcock suddenly looked like a much more likely prospect despite his company ...... but then, battered and bloodied though he was, the world champion launched 18 km out, and Pidcock could not hold on.At the same time, Wellens left his fellow chasers behind, and went after the last remaining podium step.Former gravel world champion Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck) had a very good day on the sterrati, eventually riding to seventh.Ben Healy executed a stealth attack on the last sector, moving into a solid fourth on the road.The first rider into Siena was just as everyone expected, albeit more scuffed than ideal, as Pogačar bounded up the Via Santa Caterina ...... with a massive grin on his face.He took the final few bends and dipped down into the Piazza del Campo ...... where a rapturous crowd awaited him.Tom Pidcock arrived in Siena about a minute and a half later.And Tim Wellens followed about 45 seconds after the Brit.Where's Wally?Healy led home the minor placings in fourth.With Pello Bilbao next into the Piazza.Brandon Rivera was Ineos Grenadiers' second rider to finish in 34th. Kwiatkowski had been the team's protected rider, but the two-time winner crashed on the same corner as Pogačar and withdrew with significant road rash.Fabian Weiss was one of the six breakaway riders to make it all the way, coming home 32nd and just inside 10 minutes of the winner.Arjen Livyns (Lotto) and Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal-QuickStep) were among the walking/pedalling wounded to make it into the Piazza.As was Movistar's Davide Formolo.How it feels to ride the Santa Caterina. Blurry.Pre-race hopeful Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto) had a pretty good day out, finishing ninth having been unable to react when Pogačar and Pidcock broke clear.Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek) was the youngest rider to start the race at just 18 years old, and he made it one to remember by getting in the breakaway and finishing 25th, Lidl-Trek's second-best finisher after Skujiņš.Cinematic golden hour closed in on the Santa Caterina as the last few riders ascended into town.Congratulazioni, Tadej!
