Even a crash can't stop him: Tadej Pogacar wins the Italian one-day classic Strade Bianche for the third time, drawing level with record holder Fabian Cancellara.
08.03.2025, 16:48
08.03.2025, 16:55
SDA
A good 50 kilometers before the finish, Pogacar crashed in a bend and landed in the high grass of a field. However, the Slovenian world champion immediately resumed the 213 km long race with start and finish in Siena and quickly caught up with the British riders Tom Pidcock and Connor Swift, with whom he formed the leading group at this point.
The decision for victory was made a good 18 kilometers before the finish when Pidcock was unable to find an answer to Pogacar's attack and had to let the favorite go. The 26-year-old Pogacar crossed the finish line over a minute ahead of the one-year younger Pidcock and took his third victory after 2022 and 2024, making him only the second cyclist after Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara (2008, 2012, 2016) to win the race three times.
Pogacar's big goal for the first stage of the season is to win Milan-Sanremo in two weeks' time, one of two monuments of cycling (alongside Paris-Roubaix) that he has yet to win.
Dutch rider Demi Vollering won the women's race ahead of her compatriot Anna Van Der Breggen. The 23-year-old Noemi Rüegg was the best Swiss rider in ninth place, 1.55 minutes behind the winner.
