Bruised, bloodied but Pogacar still wins Strade Bianche

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Bruised, bloodied but Pogacar still wins Strade Bianche

Bruised and bloodied, Tadej Pogacar has still managed to solo to another brilliant victory in the Strade Bianche.

The defending champion recovered from a heavy ****** on Saturday to become only the second cyclist to win the Italian Spring classic three times.

The Slovenian, who also became the first to win the race back-to-back, remarkably even had time to sit up on the approach to the line, raise his arms above his head and point both index fingers at the sky as he beamed broadly.

“I enjoyed it until I crossed the finish line. Now the adrenaline has worn off, I’m starting to feel a lot of pain,” Pogacar said.

“So not the best way to win a race but a win is a win, and let’s hope it’s nothing worse than it looks and all should be fine.”

Pogacar, who also won in 2022, finished 1 minute 24 seconds ahead of Britain’s Tom Pidcock, and 2:12 ahead of Tim Wellens, of Belgium.

This year’s Strade Bianche was one of the toughest yet as for the first time in 19 editions there were more than 80km of the white, gravel roads in Tuscany that give the race its name.

Pogacar’s chances didn’t look good when he fell with just under 50km remaining.

Pogacar was at the head of a leading trio going downhill and slid out on a corner, sending him flying across the road and tumbling head over heels into a ditch.

He was swiftly back on his bicycle but covered in scrapes on his left leg and arm, with his skinsuit torn up, and about 30 seconds down on Pidcock.

“I went too fast, I guess,” Pogacar said, when asked how the ****** happened.

“I know this road very well, I’ve rode it like already now 20 times for sure in my life, but sometimes you misjudge and, I don’t know, I just slipped.

“For a moment, I didn’t know if I was okay, and the bike was not working, so I had to change the bike. I was a bit worried because when you ******, the body takes a lot from you. But I still had enough to finish it off.”

Pogacar managed to quickly pass Connor Swift, who had been the other rider in the trio, and, when the gap fell to 15 seconds, Pidcock opted to wait for Pogacar to continue their duel heading into the final 45km.

Pogacar attacked on the penultimate sector, with 18km remaining, and left Pidcock in his – white – dust.

“I came pretty close. I mean Tadej crashed, it’s unfortunate, but let’s be honest it gave me a bit more of an opportunity,” Pidcock said.

“But he was still too strong in the last attack of his.

“Of course I waited … He made a mistake and this is not how you take advantage in a race. It was also a long way to go. So I also don’t want to ride that far on my own.”

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