As the dust settles on another edition of Strade Bianche, the events and emotions of the day slowly become clearer.
In just 20 years, the Tuscan race has transformed memories of heroic pre-war racing by Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali on dirt roads into a modern Classic, a monument of the sport in every way but name.
There was so much to take in and enjoy. Tadej Pogačar was making his season debut but again lived up to expectations and dominated the men's race in true Pogesque style. The women's race was far closer, far more tactical and far more entertaining, with Elise Chabbey diving into the last corner to take the win in Piazza del Campo.
Paul Seixas gave us a glimpse into the future with his defiant attempt to follow Pogačar, while the pain of defeat shown by Elisa Longo Borghini and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney showed the cruelty of cycling and especially Strade Bianche.
There were also record race speeds, high-speed crashes, riders going the wrong way down farm tracks and the simple celebration of making it to the finish of the race.
Pogačar's dominance is not boring
Tadej Pogačar is back racing and looks stronger than ever. He lived up to expectations and respected the predictions, winning Strade Bianche with another dominant display of force.
Each of the Slovenian's major victories creates more records and consumes the superlatives. Strade Bianche organiser RCS Sport highlighted that Pogačar became the first rider to win Strade Bianche four times and the first to win three consecutives times. He has won the last four editions he has ridden, only absent in 2023. Since 2020, Pogačar has always won the first race of the season.
Dismissing Pogačar's dominance as boring is like rejecting the joys of life, preferring cycling nihilism to sporting magic. It is like walking into Siena's Piazza del Campo square that hosts the Strade Bianche finish for the thousandth time and failing to be breath-taken.
Supreme success, like painful defeat, should be appreciated for its innate beauty. Pogačar is now 27 but UAE Team Emirates-XRG team manager Mauro Gianetti confirmed to me that he is stronger than ever and still improving.
Dominant performances in professional cycling have always sparked suspicion and scrutiny and Pogačar is no different. Sports scientists still struggle to understand his physiology and constant success but now Paul Seixas offers a new measure of Pogačar's talents. He is Merckxian but perhaps one day soon he will fade and so can be beaten. For now that only seems likely in 2027 or beyond.
FDJ United-Suez have wings
The FDJ United-Suez team seemed to have wings at Strade Bianche and not just because Red Bull is about to become a major new sponsor of the team.
Demi Vollering's hopes of a third victory were derailed by a puncture and then an off-route debacle but at the finish she appeared genuinely happy for teammate Elise Chabbey, who dived into the last corner of the race to beat Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney.
Franzisca Koch also surged past Elisa Longo Borghini to finish third, and so FDJ United-Suez had lots to celebrate.
Vollering often becomes embroiled in team tension when riding for the Dutch national team but there is a different vibe at FDJ United-Suez, where she is a leader, role model and example. Red Bull have chosen widely to back her and FDJ United-SUEZ team owner and manager Stephen Delcourt.
Paul Seixas is the future
Paul Seixas is so new to WorldTour cycling that he still doesn't understand the chaos and protocols of big race finishes.
Beyond the finish line of Strade Bianche I watched as the emotions of his performance hit him. He was in huge pain, almost struggling to stand, but was also in shock that he had just tried to take on Tadej Pogačar and finished second.
The moment represented everything that is special about the French teenager. He is a huge talent, seemingly chosen by the cycling gods to finally give France their next Tour de France winner.
He is still only 19 and boyishly naïf. Yet he is mature way beyond his years. Seixas can switch easily from French to English and seems at ease with the world and with the attention that is growing around him. We have now seen his racing talents several times but he has everything else to remain grounded and to follow his predestination as one of the greats of the post-Pogačar era.
For two minutes during Strade Bianche, as Seixas was not afraid to try to chase Pogačar on the Monte Sante Marie gravel, we saw a fissure of the future, a flash of what could happen in 2027 or 2028, or whenever Pogačar's star finally begins to fade.
Piazza del Campo rivals the Roubaix velodrome
Watching the riders finish Strade Bianche in Siena's Piazza del Campo is like standing in the infield of the Roubaix velodrome.
The winners are overjoyed with their victories and the podium finishers are like Olympic silver and bronze medalists. Yet every finisher, even those who come in behind the broom wagon, those suffering and bloody after crashes, take pride in finishing Strade Bianche.
Wout Van Aert was off the pace after his recent illness but was still happy to be back in Tuscany. His face was covered in light white Strade Bianche dust but a smile of satisfaction soon emerged.
Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Elisa Longo Borghini sat on the road after the finish, the pain of defeat as painful as the pain of the race. But their satisfaction soon changed their mood, knowing they had raced superbly and given their all.
Other riders were far more cross-legged but savoured the moment, hugging and high-fiving each other. The Unibet Rose Rockets were making their debut at Strade Bianche and were just happy that all their riders were amongst the 117 finishers.
Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) was the last official finisher, 22:46 down on Pogačar. The 39-year-old Dutchman will retire at the end of the season and wanted to ride into Piazza del Campo one last time. That is the magic and the spirit of Strade Bianche.
Make Strade Bianche al dente again
Sometimes, we have to just admit that Patrick Lefevere is right. The grumpy old Belgian team manager suggested that Strade Bianche organiser RCS Sport had 'messed-up' the design of the route by adding the second loop of the Colle Pinzuto-Le Tolfe gravel sectors, making it a harder race than it once was.
Even Pogačar is not a fan of the double Colle Pinzuto-Le Tolfe circuit, suggesting it makes for a more selective individual race, limiting the impact of team tactics that could perhaps balance out Pogačar's dominance.
The long, hilly Monte Sante Marie sector is a lot like the Forest of Arenberg in Paris-Roubaix. It always shapes the race and sparks the first major attacks and selections. The racing starts there, with 80km to go but then fades and often feels it is already over.
The addition of the Colle Pinzuto-Le Tolfe circuit means the men's Strade Bianche has a total elevation gain of 4,000 metres, making it more like Liège-Bastogne-Liège and alienating the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Filippo Ganna and other Classics riders. There is a lack of the balance that used to make the race so compelling to watch.
Making Strade Bianche harder doesn't make it more breathtakingly beautiful. Like great Italian pasta dishes, less is often more and a balance of flavours is vital. Pasta should be 'al dente' otherwise it becomes carbohydrate sludge. Too much mozzarella on a pizza is almost as bad as adding pineapple.
Modern cycling is different, with earlier attacks and different tactics. RCS should change the route, move Monte Sante Marie close to the finish and remove the second passage of Colle Pinzuto-Le Tolfe.
The roads around Siena are filled with a myriad of other gravel farm tracks and steep climbs. RCS Sport should speak to local resident and the creator of the L'Eroica sportif Giancarlo Brocci.
It perhaps seems difficult to comprehend, but fewer gravel roads, and a more finely balanced route would make Strade Bianche even more spectacular.
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