The Strade Bianche 2023 is the first big cycling classic of this year in Italy. Already from the start this race has been exciting. Demi Vollering won the women race after an exciting final, while Tom Pidcock won the mens race. In this article we look back at both races!

Strade Bianche Donna 2023

Kopecky and Vollering went on the last climb, the Via Santa Caterina, up and over leader Kristen Faulkner and then battled together for the victory. Were agreements made for such a scenario? “No, no agreements were made”, Kopecky said after the finish. “As soon as we knew that we had no longer to reckon with Trek rider Amanda Spratt, it was Demi against me.”

“Demi and I just made the best of it and sprinted for the win. It was exciting. Immediately after the finish we did not know who had won.” In the end it turned out that Vollering had won the day. “Of course it is nice to win yourself. But in the end it doesn’t matter who wins, as long as someone from SD Worx comes first.”

Strade Bianche 2023

The INEOS Grenadiers rider Tom Pidcock accelerated on the very defining and 11.5km Monte Sante Marie stretch. “It was really not the plan to start such a long solo. I knew that the Monte Sante Marie was a decisive point in the race. I managed to make a gap in the descent and then continued.”

Pidcock then rode to the remaining front runners Sven Erik Bystrøm and Alessandro De Marchi and with 23 kilometers to go, on the Monteaperti strip, the Briton was all alone. However, this didn’t seem to bother him. Pidcock was chased by some pursuers in the final, but the tough driver was no longer able to catch up towards Siena and started the steep final kilometer with a reassuring lead. This lead give him the win at Strade, one of the highlights of his career so far.