Tadej Pogacar wins record-breaking Strade Bianche after 80km solo

Tadej Pogacar has won Strade Bianche for the fourth time in his career. The Slovenian attacked just over eighty kilometers from the finish, dropped all his rivals, and successfully completed his solo. He is now the sole record holder for the most wins in the Italian gravel classic. Paul Seixas took second, Isaac Del Toro finished third. Romain Grégoire and Gianni Vermeersch rounded out the top five. Wout van Aert finished tenth.

The Strade Bianche route was slightly modified compared to last year. The organizers decided to cut out a total of sixteen kilometers of gravel sections: from 80 to 64 kilometers. Additionally, the race was twelve kilometers shorter overall than the 2025 edition. However, the finale remained unchanged.

In that finale, the following gravel sectors awaited again: San Martino in Grania (9.4 km), Monte Sante Marie (11.5 km), Monteaperti (0.6 km), the Colle Pinzuto named after Tadej Pogacar (2.4 km), Le Tolfe (1.1 km), Strada del Castagno (0.7 km), Montechiaro (3.3 km), and once more Colle Pinzuto (2.4 km) and Le Tolfe (1.1 km). Afterwards, the route undulated towards Siena. There, after the steep climb of Via Santa Caterina, the finish was on the famous Piazza del Campo.

Tadej Pogacar was the overwhelming top favorite in his season debut. After all, he had already won Strade Bianche in 2022, 2024, and 2025. His own teammate Isaac Del Toro, former winner Tom Pidcock, and French rising star Paul Seixas seemed to be the main challengers. Other notable starters included Wout van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson, and Romain Grégoire.

Tibor Del Grosso was also in the race, but the Dutchman from Alpecin-Premier Tech did not wait for the finale. He slipped into the early breakaway, which also included Visma rider Tim Rex, Martin Marcellusi, Jack Haig, Patrick Konrad, Anders Foldager, Samuele Zoccarato, Adrien Boichis, and Davide Toneatti. However, the nine never gained much leeway from the peloton.

Pogacar attacks, Seixas briefly responds
Just before Monte Sante Marie, the breakaway riders were reeled in again. UAE Emirates XRG then increased the tempo further with men like Florian Vermeersch and Jan Christen. They appeared to be setting up an attack by Tadej Pogacar and indeed, with just over eighty kilometers to go, the world champion accelerated. Tom Pidcock followed closely but experienced a chain problem for the second time in a short period. This allowed Pogi to immediately open a gap on his rivals.

Paul Seixas was not ready to give up and tried to close the gap. Initially, Matteo Jorgenson and Isaac Del Toro were on his wheel, but they eventually had to let the young French rider go. Seixas then managed to latch onto Pogacar’s wheel. At least for a brief moment. Suddenly, the Decathlon CMA CGM talent cracked, and Pogacar was truly away.

Seixas dropped back to Del Toro and after Monte Sante Marie, the two were caught by Jorgenson, Pidcock, and Romain Grégoire. Their deficit quickly grew to a minute. The third group, which included Wout van Aert, was already one and a half minutes behind Pogacar with sixty kilometers to go. From that group, Ben Healy and Andreas Kron first rode up to Seixas and company, followed by the rest joining as well. This formed a group of seventeen riders chasing the lone leader.

Battle for second place
Several riders tried to escape from this small peloton. For example, Pidcock accelerated on Le Tolfe. Just after the Brit’s move, Healy crashed amid the densely packed crowd. Christen also had to stop, but both were able to continue. However, calm had not yet returned. A group consisting of Christen, Del Toro, Grégoire, Seixas, Pidcock, Jorgenson, and Gianni Vermeersch broke away from the rest.

Following the attacks behind him, Pogacar lost some of his shine, but only briefly. The Slovenian raised the pace again and extended his lead back to a minute and three-quarters. We could once again focus on the fight for second place. There, Seixas and Del Toro held the best cards, as was evident on the final passage of Colle Pinzuto. The two youngsters broke away from Pidcock and company.

Fourth win for Pogacar
Del Toro contributed sparingly alongside Seixas, but the Frenchman did the lion’s share of the work. They didn’t close in much on Pogacar. The Slovenian started the Via Santa Caterina—the last climb into the center of Siena—with a comfortable lead. He was thus able to calmly celebrate his record fourth victory in Strade Bianche on the Piazza del Campo.

Behind Pogacar, Seixas took second place. Del Toro, who seemed to be reaching his limit, finished third. Romain Grégoire and Gianni Vermeersch completed the top five.