Vos seventh in 'special' Strade Bianche, Ferrand-Prévot misdirected: "I knew nothing"

Marianne Vos stayed with the group fighting for the win until deep into the finale of Strade Bianche Donne. However, on the final climb to Siena, she couldn’t keep up with the best riders and had to settle for seventh place. "It was a special race," said the Visma | Lease a Bike rider afterwards in an interview with WielerFlits.

She was referring, among other things, to several crashes and the fact that a chasing group including Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was misdirected. "Of course I noticed that. Pauline and Femke (de Vries, ed.) were sent the wrong way for us. They already had bad luck earlier, so it wasn’t an ideal situation."

Vos herself hit the wall at the start of the final kilometer. "I already felt there wasn’t much left in the legs. Of course, you hope to recover a bit before the last climb. But the wall in Siena doesn’t lie."

This was Vos’s first race of 2026. "That makes it tough, yes. That’s always the case, but Strade Bianche is certainly a hard race. My own feeling was good overall. The scenarios for the team weren’t ideal, but we will come back stronger next time."

Ferrand-Prévot Misguided
Visma | Lease a Bike also started Tour de France Femmes winner Ferrand-Prévot, but she suffered mechanical trouble. "I know exactly what happened with my chain, but it was completely jammed. I could only wait for the team car. I changed bikes and tried to catch back. I was following the group ahead, but suddenly we took the wrong road. I can’t say much more about that," she smiled for the camera of Eurosport.

"I don’t know how this could happen. There was a lot of dust. I saw the motorbike head right, but two hundred meters later the riders turned around. I had no idea if the breakaway was going the right way. I didn’t know anything. Still don’t, actually. I’m curious about what all happened. Until the mechanical issue, I felt good. I was waiting for the last lap to make a move, but well, next time!"