Strade Bianche 2026 through the eyes of Visma | Lease a Bike Women: “With that dust, you just follow the rider in front…”

Visma | Lease a Bike had three riders in the front group of this edition of Strade Bianche, but things unravelled at the worst possible moment. Ferrand-Prévot, the team’s designated leader, suffered a mechanical the first time over Le Tolfe and was left standing still for a long time.

“I don’t know what happened to my chain,” she sighed at the finish. “It was blocked — I’ve never seen that before. Then I had to wait for the car to change bikes.”

Even so, Ferrand-Prévot clawed her way back into the race alongside Demi Vollering (who had also had problems) and teammate De Vries, who had been dropped after doing her work. Until that moment — the moment they suddenly found themselves back on gravel where they simply weren’t supposed to be.

“When I followed a group, they took the wrong turn,” said the frustrated Frenchwoman. “I have no idea what happened, because I was between the cars in the dust. I didn’t understand what they were doing, but after that we were really far back.”

De Vries couldn’t fully explain it either. “Yeah… it was super weird,” she said. “Pauline was just behind that group and I dropped back to bring her back. Then I had the idea loads of people had crashed, because I saw everyone turning around.”

“I think the motorbike went that way, and we just followed… then I thought: I don’t recognise this section at all. When I checked my map, I saw we really were off course. With that dust, you just follow the rider in front of you,” said the Dutch rider, who quickly realised their chances were gone. “From the car we heard it was over, and you could feel it in the group too.”

Ferrand-Prévot also sensed it was done, though she still wanted answers. “I’ll hear on the bus what exactly happened, because I truly have no idea,” she said. “I think I had good legs and I was waiting for the final lap to make the difference. That will have to be for next time.”

It wasn’t a completely empty-handed day for Visma | Lease a Bike, because Vos still managed a solid seventh place. “When you’re in the middle of the race, you don’t really know everything that’s going on,” Vos explained. “You hear a bit through the radio, but it was a strange race.”

“When you’re in the middle of the race, you don’t really know everything that’s going on,” Vos explained. “You hear a bit through the radio, but it was a strange race.”