Soudal Quick-Step bring Dutchman and three Belgians as they target strong Strade Bianche result

Saturday’s gravel classic comes with a start list that is as stacked as they come. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is set to make his 2026 season debut, while Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) are also among the notable names on the entry list.

With that level of competition, Soudal Quick-Step may not have the outright top favourite in its ranks — but the Belgian team is still travelling to Tuscany with confidence. In announcing its Strade Bianche selection, the squad noted that it remains the only team to have won the Italian one-day race with three different riders.

If Soudal Quick-Step are to make it four different winners, the cards will come from Gianmarco Garofoli, Junior Lecerf, Pepijn Reinderink, Martin Svrcek, Mauri Vansevenant, Louis Vervaeke and Filippo Zana. Zana arrives with form: he won the Giro di Sardegna earlier this season and also finished in the top ten on the Piazza del Campo in Siena in 2024.

Although the updated route may look slightly lighter on paper, sports director Davide Bramati still expects a brutal day — even with fewer kilometres on the white roads.

“The race is a bit shorter this year and doesn’t have as many gravel kilometres as last season, but this doesn’t mean it won’t be hard and demanding. At the same time, it’s one of the best races in the world, a place where he enjoyed many great results in the past, so it goes without saying that we would like to be again in the thick of the action and fight for a good result with the strong squad that that we have there,” said Bramati. Soudal Quick-Step rarely shy away from ambition, even if they are not spelling out a precise target this time. But the message is clear: they want to be in the mix on the Tuscan gravel and contest a strong result.

Gianmarco Garofoli