The route for Strade Bianche has been shortened by 14km from 215km to 201km for the 2026 edition, and will feature two fewer gravel sectors, race organiser RCS revealed in Milan on Wednesday.
After growing in status as a one-day Classic, the iconic Italian race over the white Tuscan roads was transformed in 2024, with the route being made significantly more difficult by adding kilometres and more gravel.
The two sectors removed from last year are La Piana (6.4km) and Serravalle (9.3km), which both featured in the opening half of the route, potentially giving more chance for the race to kick off later.
As a result, the total gravel kilometres have been reduced from 80km to 64km.
The final loops around Siena remain unchanged, however, with the Colle Pinzuto (2.4km) and Le Tolfe (1.1km) sectors again featuring twice, before the iconic steep slope up the Via Santa Caterina brings the riders home to the Piazza del Campo.
(Image credit: RCS Sport)
The gravel action will kick off early at the first sector, Vidritta, which arrives after 10km of racing, and is closely followed by Bagnaia and Radi; however, there will then be a 30km gap before the next off-road section at Lucignano d'Asso – the first four-star and longest gravel sector.
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After 98.3km, the riders will hit the first of two five-star sectors, S. Martino in Grania, but the sector which has provided the launch pad for many of the past editions won't be far in the distance.
11.5km in length, the iconic up and down slopes of the Monte Sante Marie will once again play host to the crucial moment of the race, with just over 70km of the race remaining after its conclusion – if you miss a move here, it will be nigh-on impossible to win the race.
Having won on a shorter 184-kilometre course in 2022, Pogačar will remain the big favourite to make it three in a row at Strade Bianche, which is set to be his first appearance of the 2026 season on March 7.
He will face stiff competition as always, though, especially with former winner Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) returning, who also won the gravel stage into Siena at last year's Giro d'Italia and was the only rider to drop Pogačar in a race last season.
Other top contenders who could come into play on the softened route could be Pidcock, who is also a former winner, Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Although Pogačar cannot count of the injured Tim Wellens, he does have the bonus of star teammate Isaac del Toro alongside him, so UAE Team Emirates XRG remain the team to beat.
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
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