Report
We all knew it was coming. The directors in the team cars knew it, the fans choking on dust alongside the Tuscan gravel knew it, and every single rider gasping for air in the peloton knew exactly what was about to happen. Tadej Pogačar was going to attack on the Monte Sante Maria.
And yet, when the reigning World Champion inevitably pulled the pin with an absurd 79 kilometers still left to race, nobody could do a damn thing about it.
In what was officially his very first race day of the 2026 season, Pogačar didn’t just win his fourth Strade Bianche. He absolutely humiliated the field, becoming the first rider in the history of the race to win three back-to-back-to-back editions and outright shattering Fabian Cancellara’s previous record.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG will tell you this was a “magnificent” team effort. And sure, it was. But it also looked less like a bike race and more like a highly funded corporate execution.
With 90km to go, UAE put their entire squad on the front and began methodically strangling the peloton. American Kevin Vermaerke initiated the high-speed parade on the San Martino in Grania sector, followed closely by Felix Großschartner. By the time they hit the brutal 10km+ stretch of the Monte Sante Maria, Florian Vermeersch and Jan Christen had shredded the lead group down to fewer than ten gasping survivors.
Then came the short descent. Pogačar saw his window, gave a polite nod to the laws of human physiology, and simply rode away.
To his credit, young Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) actually tried to mount a defense. The Frenchman valiantly fought to close the gap on the initial acceleration, dragging Pogačar’s teammate Isaac del Toro with him. But Pogačar just kicked again, dancing on the pedals and leaving Seixas to realize the brutal reality of modern cycling: when Tadej goes, your race is now for second place.
From that point on, it was a 79-kilometer time trial. Pogačar rolled into the Piazza del Campo in Siena with over a minute to spare, sitting up to celebrate his 109th career victory at just 27 years old.
Behind him, Seixas held on for a highly respectable second, crossing the line exactly a minute down. Del Toro, who had the luxury of sitting on wheels while his team leader was up the road, expertly marked the chasing groups to sweep up third place, while Christen slotted into sixth.
After the race, Pogačar smiled and offered the media the understatement of the century: “More or less, this was the plan!”
No kidding, Tadej. The scary part isn’t that UAE telegraphed the exact strategy from 90 kilometers out. The terrifying part for the rest of the WorldTour is that knowing the plan doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t have the watts to stop it. The Spring Classics are officially here, and the rest of the peloton is already racing for leftovers.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling.com