Pogačar wins Strade Bianche after high-speed crash
Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar recovered from a high-speed crash to win the Strade Bianche, a major one-day race, for the third time in his career.
The 26-year-old finished the 213-km route, which includes 71 km of white gravel road sections, almost one minute and a half ahead of Briton Tom Pidcock, for his third victory in the Strade Bianche after 2022 and 2024, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
Pogačar mounted an astonishing come-back after he slipped during a fast descent some 50 kilometres from the finish line, crashing badly on the road and then falling deep into the roadside grass.
The world road race champion quickly hopped back on his bike and later replaced it with another bike.
He needed only six kilometres to catch up with race leader Pidcock, and then continued towards the finish line together with the Briton.
The decisive moment came some 19 kilometres from the finish line, on the penultimate gravel section, when the Slovenian mounted an attack and got rid of Pidcock after a few hundred metres of fierce cycling.
Pogačar crossed the finish line one minute and 23 seconds ahead of the Briton and two minutes and 11 seconds ahead of the third-placed Belgian Tim Wellens, his teammate from UAE Team Emirates XRG.
"I enjoyed it until I crossed the finish line, and now the adrenaline has worn off and everything really hurts. This is not the best way to win, but I hope it's not a big deal and that it looks worse than it really is," Pogačar said about the crash.
He said that he had overestimated the turn a little bit. "I know these roads well, I've ridden them at least 20 times in my life. I slipped, it happens," he added.
This is his fourth victory of the season and the 92 career victory in total. With his third victory in the Strade Bianche, the Slovenian ace joined Swiss Fabian Cancellara (2008, 2012 and 2016) at the top of the all-time rankings in the Siena race.
Pogačar, who will have the honour of one of the white gravel road sections being named after him as of next year's race, said that "it was a pretty good race" and that it is "amazing that a section will be named after me."
