Pogačar and super-domestique Del Toro frustrate flying Seixas and the rest at Strade Bianche
CyclingSaturday, 07 March 2026 at 16:59
Tadej Pogačar has won Strade Bianche for the third year in a row — his fourth victory in total — making him the race’s outright record holder. The Slovenian star of UAE Team Emirates–XRG struck again on Monte Sante Marie, and with wonderkid Paul Seixas (Decathlon) just unable to bridge across — while Tom Pidcock was left fighting chain trouble — UAE were able to shut the race down behind with Isaac del Toro and Jan Christen.
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Just like in the women’s race, the men’s edition saw crashes early on. When the peloton hit the first gravel sector after around 10 kilometres, seven riders went down, with Lidl-Trek talent Albert Withen Philipsen among the abandonments. There was no neutralisation or waiting: the opening 20 kilometres were raced hard, without a breakaway getting clear.
Eventually, after three sectors and a slightly calmer phase, a nine-man move did go. Debutant Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin–Premier Tech), Jack Haig (INEOS), Tim Rex (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) were among those up the road. UAE Team Emirates–XRG kept control in the bunch, but allowed the leaders some room.
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After Montalcino, Del Grosso and company had around two minutes, but from there the pace in the peloton rose steadily. The early break survived Lucignano d’Asso and Pieve a Salti, yet heading towards San Martino in Grania, the bunch was rapidly closing in. By then, the peloton was down to roughly 40 riders, with UAE keeping the speed brutally high.
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Pogačar rides away, Pidcock hits trouble and Seixas hangs on with the chasers
Everything built towards Monte Sante Marie — the sector where Strade Bianche tends to explode, and where Pogačar set up his last two victories. The 11-kilometre gravel stretch was the cue for UAE to open the throttle fully, and as so often, only a small group could stay in contact. The only thing missing was Pogačar’s own move.
When the Slovenian created a gap on a short descent, only Tom Pidcock (Pinarello–Q36.5) initially managed to follow — but after twice “stepping through” his chain, the Brit was forced to let go. Attention then shifted to Paul Seixas, who for a long time did an impressive job of limiting the damage with Pogačar’s teammate Isaac del Toro on his wheel. Eventually, the elastic snapped — and with Del Toro sitting third wheel, he naturally did not contribute to the chase.
Behind them, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike), Pidcock and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) came together, and after Monte Sante Marie that trio managed to bridge to Seixas and Del Toro. That made a strong group of five, but they were already around a minute down on Pogačar. A further 40 seconds back, Wout van Aert and Ben Healy were in a small group trying to claw their way back into contention.
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Healy makes the bridge as Pidcock thins out the chase
When Pogačar entered the final circuit with 53 kilometres to go, his lead over the first chasers had grown to around 1:30. Healy (EF Education–EasyPost) and Andreas Kron (Uno-X) succeeded in bridging to the Seixas group. Van Aert’s group eventually did the same as well, just before the race hit Colle Pinzuto once more.
On the sector that had been named after Tadej Pogačar earlier in the week, it kicked off among the chasers. Van Aert drove the pace, ensuring he was still there at the top of the steep ramps. The gap to Pogačar did not immediately balloon, but the chance of anyone still racing for the win looked close to zero. On Le Tolfe, the fight therefore became all about second place — and Pidcock attacked, splitting the chasing group.
That action behind Pogačar saw the Slovenian’s advantage shrink to around 1:20 with roughly one and a half laps remaining. Pidcock had strong company in Christen, Del Toro, Seixas, Grégoire, Gianni Vermeersch and Jorgenson. Van Aert and the rest began to lose more time in this phase.
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Who takes second in Strade Bianche behind Pogačar?
An elimination race followed, with one more trip over Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe still to come. On Pinzuto, Seixas tried once again to force the issue, but UAE’s Del Toro and Christen responded sharply in turns. This time it was the Mexican who glued himself to the Frenchman’s wheel. After a few animated gestures, Del Toro did finally take a handful of pulls.
Seixas and Del Toro defended a slender advantage towards Le Tolfe, and the Frenchman impressed again by driving all the way to the top, with Del Toro still attached. UAE looked set to put an exclamation mark on the day when Christen rode away from the Pidcock group, but the others shut it down — keeping the battle alive for fourth.
Or even third? Christen tried again on the run-in to Siena and, in doing so, brought the Pidcock group back closer to Seixas and Del Toro. But the 19-year-old Seixas delivered on the hype: he rode a big part of the finale with Del Toro in his wake, and finished a clear second behind Pogačar. Del Toro, meanwhile, played the role of the perfect super-domestique — helping Pogačar secure victory, allowing Seixas to take second, and still doing enough to step onto the podium himself.
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Latest Comments
- It's a bit embarrassing that. Isn't the main sponsor supposed to keep them at 36.5 ?tomjacques03-03-2026
- They were close to cracking a very tired Tadej that wasn't fully focused on the TdF with a team of riders focused solely on cracking Tadej. And if they cracked him, he would have still won. Tadej won't be racing the giro this year. It'll be an even easier win for him.Veganpotter09-02-2026
- Nice!Bea22-01-2026
- Those events are mental rest for him. Fun, without expectations. *Sagan lost his abilities because he gained weight and got lazy. Pogi will likely retire before that has a chance at happening.Veganpotter14-12-2025
- Ah, the consequences of riding for Israel.Veganpotter11-12-2025
- Pidcock could follow everyone but Pogi while finishing 3rd. No second place rider this season😃Veganpotter16-11-2025
- Now the Palestinian protestors can stop their whining. Trump came to the rescue. So they can now STFU and go back to waving the rainbow flags.raufus15-10-2025
- Cracked the code lol. If it was that easy to 'crack the code' jonny Vegas would be charging up the Kwaremont giving Pog a dose of his medicine. Evenepoel can't match pog on a climb and neither can mvdp. Anything with a half difficult climb and Pog smashes the field. Even on flat(ish)parcours like Roubaix it came down to a mistake and crash by pog to definitively crown mvdp. MSR is the only one that Pog probably won't win.kevpt10-10-2025
- We've seen this movie before. I think Pogacar is doping.DeadBlow10-10-2025
- 👍Bea08-10-2025
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