Team Ineos Thomas Pidcock takes part in an attack during the 17th oneday classic Strade Bianche White Roads cycling race 184 km between Siena and Siena Tuscany on March 4 2023 Photo by Marco BERTORELLO AFP Photo by MARCO BERTORELLOAFP via Getty Images(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers). Photo/Getty Images(Image credit: Getty Images)
The Strade Bianche peloton on the stunning gravel roads of Tuscany(Image credit: Getty images)
The Strade Bianche peloton lined out in the dust(Image credit: Getty Images)
The views of Strade Bianche are breathtaking(Image credit: Getty Images)
The early break of the 2023 Strade Bianche(Image credit: Getty Images)
Alberto Bettiol was careful to race up front at Strade Bianche(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) at Strade Bianche(Image credit: Getty Images)
Julian Alaphilippe stayed protected at Strade Bianche(Image credit: Getty Images)
Trek-Segafredo lead the Strade Bianche peloton(Image credit: Getty Images)
The sun was out for the 2023 Strade Bianche(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) took an exceptional solo win at Strade Bianche after a series of attacks from 45km out, before a dramatic cat-and-mouse 20km solo effort against a chaser group containing second-place Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and third-place Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma).
Pidcock’s gap slimmed down to a mere six seconds within the final 10km, before his now infamous descending skills helped him open up a gap of 30 seconds into the Piazzo del Campo, which he ascended ahead of a chase group containing Madouas, Benoot, Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) and Attila Valter (Jumbo-Visma).
The Briton – the first to have won the men's edition of the stunning Tuscan Classic after Lizzie Deignan having won the women's race in 2016 – attacked in pursuit of the day’s main three-man breakaway with around 45km remaining. He caught the breakaway containing Sven Erik Bystrøm (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Alessandro De Marchi (Team Jayco Alula) and Iván Romeo (Movistar) within 5km, before riding clear and taking on the final 20km solo.
The chase group, initially also containing Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), set off in a well-ordered pursuit before descending into internal tussles that saw a visibly fatigued Pidcock manage to ride clear on the race’s final descent.
“It's gonna take some sinking in. When I went, that was completely not the plan,” Pidcock said to press following the finish. “That sector is normally the decisive place, so I was just riding hard. I got a gap on the descent and I just carried on.”
“A few times they came too close and I thought I’d messed it up and gone so early,” he said of the chase group's painfully small gap with 5km remaining.
“The day was so fast all day and I thought if I get a gap and keep going it’s hard to bring back.”
“Honestly in a lot of races recently there’s been a lot of motorbikes in front of the guys in front but today I didn’t have any motorbikes - I was hoping for a few more,” Pidcock added, hinting at an unfair advantage given to some breakaway riders.
Speaking of the chase, Mohoric painted a picture of a disjointed effort that cost them overall victory. “We were not going smooth in the back - we were constantly attacking each other and not working together,” he said.
How it unfolded
The peloton set off from Siena to favourable tailwinds, and the race was quickly ahead of schedule on an otherwise stunning day in Tuscany. With 184km ahead of them and the spectre of the aggressive Piazzo del Campo climb into Siena following a route littered with lengthy gravel sectors, the peloton was animated from the outset.
Attacks came from Movistar, UAE and others, but it was Sven Erik Bystrøm of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty who managed to open up a gap, accompanied by Alessandro De Marchi (Team Jayco Alula).
Once joined by 19-year-old Iván Romeo (Movistar), the breakaway group was allowed some breathing room and stretched out to a gap of over 6 minutes within 80km of the race.
The scenic views of Strade Bianche's ealry sectors (Image credit: Getty Images)
As the race took on successive gravel sectors, the peloton slowly ebbed away at the breakaway’s lead, with the tailwind pushing the race to an impressive average speed of 42.2kmh across the white gravel-strewn terrain of first 100km.
With 80km remaining, the gap had reduced to around four minutes, as the chase was coordinated by Groupama-FDJ, EF Education-EasyPost, Trek-Segafredo and Soudal-QuickStep.
Over sector 7, San Martino in Grania, aggressive attacks cut the advantage but also saw crashes which took down Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ). Madouas managed to work his way back into contention.
Riding into the 60km mark, the gap to the break was only three minutes, and a mildly fractured peloton began to mount a concerted chase, just as the young Romeo dropped from the breakaway.
Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) and Andrea Bagioli (Soudal-QuickStep) made an attack soon after. They were joined by Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and the trio took pursuit of the leading duo of riders.
At 45km to go, the fireworks began as Pidcock attacked his fellow chasers. He bridged to the breakaway by 40km to go, despite a shaky descent on the gravel sector - though unsurprisingly Pidcock’s cyclocross skills were reflected in the speed of his descent.
Alberto Bettiol wasn’t so lucky, as just within 40km he had a striking crash which left him lying on the roadside. He managed to get back to his feet but soon abandoned the race.
Pidcock was joined by Alessandro De Marchi, making for a lead group of Pidcock, Bystrøm and De Marchi.
After a tiring day out front, Bystrøm lost touch and it was soon a two-man time trial for Pidcock and De Marchi with 30km remaining, only for Pidcock to attack on sector 9 at Monteaperti and ride solo into the final 20km.
Pidcock held a slim lead to 20 seconds over a group of riders including Tiesj Benoot and Maej Mohoric united in pursuit, but tussles between the chasers led to disarray, giving Pidcock a vital window of opportunity to stretch out his slim lead.
Into sector 11, La Tolfe, Pidcock has a margin of 17 seconds, but the chase began to wind up considerably with Attila Valter (Jumbo-Visma) attacking from the front as Quinn Simmons drifted off the chase group.
Despite a fleetingly small gap, Pidcock held his lead into the final 5km - using his infamous descending skills to stretch out a minor gap on the approach to Siena.
From there out, the descent toward the base of Piazzo del Campo let Pidcock stretch out a gap of nearly 30 seconds, and a Pidcock victory seemed increasingly plausible.
Into the final kilometres, a cat-and-mouse game began, and few commentators and fans could help but hope that Pidcock’s brave solo effort would pay off as he ascended the stone slabs of the iconic climb to Piazza Del Campo.
Peter Stuart has been editor of Cyclingnews since March 2022, overseeing editorial output across all of Cyclingnews' digital touchpoints.
Before joining Cyclingnews, Peter was the digital editor of Rouleur magazine. Starting life as a freelance feature writer, with bylines in The Times and The Telegraph, he first entered cycling journalism in 2012, joining Cyclist magazine as staff writer. Peter has a background as an international rower, representing Great Britain at Under-23 level and at the Junior Rowing World Championships.
