{"id":204849,"date":"2026-03-09T10:41:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=204849"},"modified":"2026-03-09T10:41:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:41:47","slug":"pogacar-soloes-for-record-strade-bianche-win-as-seixas-shines-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/03\/09\/pogacar-soloes-for-record-strade-bianche-win-as-seixas-shines-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Poga\u010dar\u00a0Soloes for Record Strade Bianche Win as Seixas Shines Too"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tadej Poga\u010dar\u00a0did what he always does at the Strade Bianche, he took off on his own and let his rivals eat the road\u2019s white dust as he became the first rider to win the race four times and three times in succession.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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How it unfolded<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As in 2024, the UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG leader made the decisive break on the Monte Sante Marie gravel and white dust sector, the longest and most difficult off-road sector of the race. It is 11.5km long, 4.5km of it uphill, with ramps of up to 18% and a particularly challenging\u00a01km stretch at 10%. Instead of attacking with 81km left to ride, as he did two years ago, he began his move 79.2km from the finish, on the steepest uphill stretch, but was tailed by 19-year-old Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), who rode to within a bike length or two of Poga\u010dar. But then the best rider in the world accelerated again at 78.5km \u2013 and the race was more or less over.<\/p>\n

“I looked back at one point after the first steep section and [Seixas] was not that far behind. He was actually really close,\u201d Poga\u010dar\u00a0said after the race. \u201cSo I said ‘OK’ and realized that I need to really leave it all out there and try to snap the gap. Luckily I succeeded. Otherwise, I think he would have been on the wheel. I’m happy with the way it went.”<\/p>\n

Seixas eventually went in pursuit of the Slovenian with the latter\u2019s teammate Isaac del Toro on his wheel and refusing to help him. So the young Frenchman eventually waited for two chase groups \u2013 which included Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Wout van Aert (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike), Romain Gr\u00e9goire (Groupama\u2013FDJ United) and Ben Healy (EF Education\u2013EasyPost) \u2013 to increase the number of legs in the chase. But Pidcock had recurrent chain issues, van Aert was not at his best and, in what to me seemed to be a sign of respect for the youngster, the other riders did not to want to help him for fear of losing a spot on the podium.<\/p>\n

With 50km left to ride, Poga\u010dar led the chasers by 1:23; 40km from the finish the lead was 1:48, and ballooned to 1:57 before coming down again. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Seixas rode away from the chase group on the Colle Pinzuto (400m @ 10.5%) and quickly opened a gap to everyone but del Toro, who stayed glued to his wheel again. That meant that Seixas had to ride the remaining 19km on his own, perhaps sacrificing second place by his effort.<\/p>\n

But the French prodigy managed to drop del Toro on the harsh final climb in Siena, the Sante Catarina ramp (460m @ 10%, with a section at 16%) and finished second after all, 1:00 behind Poga\u010dar. He managed to take some time off the Slovenian\u2019s margin while also beating the best of the chase group, Gr\u00e9goire, to the line by 1:04. I suspect that del Toro had more gas in the tank at the end than Seixas but sort of apologized to him for making him do all the work by letting him take the runner-up spot. These two riders will almost certainly be the main protagonists of the post-Poga\u010dar era, which means many years of intense duels and suspense, for a change.<\/p>\n

Seixas impresses<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Poga\u010dar was gracious in victory. “I was impressed with Paul. He did a super good ride,” he said. “He showed that he can ride a bike, and he can ride under pressure, that he can deliver a result and he has incredible legs. He’s a big machine.”<\/p>\n

While the race belonged to Poga\u010dar, Seixas could also be declared a winner and perhaps the hero of the race, because of his age and because his performance was impressive and unexpected, whereas Poga\u010dar just did as he always does.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great result,\u201d Seixas said post-race. \u201cI didn\u2019t say it in the [pre-race] interview, but we still aimed for the podium today. It\u2019s definitely a very ambitious goal. I never did this race before, I barely knew the sectors, so I knew I had to rely a bit on my cyclocross skills. They were not enough, you know, since I stopped [that sport] two years ago. So I managed to ride a bit and then I fought all day to get this result.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to say: \u201cI tried to follow [Poga\u010dar]. He attacked just ahead of a descent. . . .I think he was more managing his effort, whereas I was going all out. He was looking back a few times, and seeing I was coming back, so he re-accelerated. . . . I wasn\u2019t far off following him, and that shows I\u2019m progressing, and my progression\u2019s the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd Strade Bianche (@strade_bianche)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n