Favourites & start list Strade Bianche: Is Pogacar making a break for it again?
Thomas Goldmann
· 01.03.2024
Strade Bianche 2024: The most important facts in brief
- Date: Saturday, 2 March, the women start at 9:35 am (finish ~ 1:30 pm), the men start at 11:10 am (finish ~ 3:30 pm)
- DistanceMen 215 kilometres, women 137 kilometres
- Start: Siena, Target: Siena
- Premiere: Men 2007, women 2015
- Track, gravel sectors, TV broadcast & live stream
- Strade Bianche Women: Favourites & start list
- Race report of the men
- Women's race report
- The best photos from Strade Bianche 2024
Strade Bianche 2024: The TOUR favourites by stars*
* Julian Alaphilippe, Lennert van Eetvelt, Christophe Laporte, Valentin Madouas, Romain Gregoire
** Ben Healy, Daniel Felipe Martinez, Sepp Kuss, Lenny Martinez
*** Tim Wellens, Attila Valter, Matej Mohoric
**** Thomas Pidcock
***** Tadej Pogacar
* The more stars a driver receives, the stronger he is rated
Strade Bianche 2024: Tadej Pogacar makes his season debut
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) starts the season at Strade Bianche. The two-time Tour de France winner has fond memories of the race. After all, he triumphed in 2022 with a 50-kilometre solo. Accordingly, he is also the man to beat in 2024. "My preparation was really good and we'll be going for the win. You never know exactly how you will be in the first races and there will be great rivals. But I think with our team, we will be ready for anything," Pogacar says on his team's website.
In addition to the Slovenian, he has other hot potatoes in the fire who could also play a role in the battle for victory - if Pogacar's trump card doesn't come up trumps. First and foremost Tim Wellens who showed that he is in good form with second place at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne last weekend. But also a rider like Marc Hirschi (most recently winner of the Faun Ardeche Classic) could pull the coals out of the fire for UAE Team Emirates.
Can Thomas Pidcock defend his title?
In addition to Pogacar, the favourites include Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) should be mentioned. The British all-rounder secured victory in Siena in 2023 and rode at the top for a long time at the Omloop het Nieuwsblad on the "Opening Weekend" - although he is still a few percentage points short of absolute top form. Pidcock's great strength is his riding skills, which last year saw him hurtle down the descents in a way that left many spectators breathless. The world-class crosser and mountain bike world champion can also beat Pogacar on a good day.
Matej Mohoric (Bahrian-Victorious) is just as strong as Pidcock when it comes to bike control. The reigning gravel world champion will therefore also be one of the favourites at Strade Bianche 2024. Unlike the Brit, however, the Slovenian has yet to win the race on the gravel roads of Tuscany - his best finish was sixth place in 2023.
Visma | Lease a Bike with multiple cards
At the time, Mohoric was part of a five-man chasing pack behind Pidcock - just like Attila Valter (Visma | Lease a Bike). However, the Hungarian road champion and his team-mate Tiesj Benoot got bogged down in tactical skirmishes and were unable to catch Pidcock, who was already within reach. Valter is also one of the candidates for victory in 2024. The 25-year-old recently finished fifth at the UAE Tour. His team, Visma | Lease a Bike, has teamed up with the European road champion Christophe Laporte, Ben Tulett and Sepp Kuss more arrows in the quiver. Vuelta winner Kuss in particular could play a good role. The US American recently proved at the Classica Jaen that he can also gravel.
Bora-Hansgrohe: Daniel Felipe Martinez is one of the favourites
The German team Bora-Hansgrohe sends among others Lennard Kämna at the start. However, the German will probably have little to do with the outcome of the race. Better chances, on the other hand Daniel Felipe Martinez have. The Colombian was recruited by Ineos Grenadiers and has already surprised positively at the Tour of the Algarve. There he clearly beat Remco Evenepoel in two uphill sprints and is in very good form. Also Ben Healy (EF Education EasyPost) proved his strong early form with fourth place in the Algarve and is also one of the favourites.
But it could also be the first French victory since 2019 at Strade Bianche. Back then, the winner was Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step). The two-time road world champion is also on the start line this year, but is struggling with a number of issues. On the one hand, his boss Patrick Lefevere sharply criticised him in a recent interview, and on the other hand, he was knocked down several times at Omloop het Nieuwsblad and had to abandon. At Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne the following day, he finished in 111th place, but at least the 31-year-old's form seemed to be on the rise again recently. It remains to be seen to what extent the recent setbacks have affected him.
Strade Bianche 2024: Groupama-FDJ has three hot irons in the fire
In contrast to Alaphilippe, his young compatriot Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) has already won two races this year with Classic Var and the Trofeo Laigueglia. The youngster is only 20 years old, but is in impressive form and has therefore slipped into the line-up for Strade Bianche. It will be exciting to see whether he can upset the world elite on Saturday.
Groupama-FDJ has also worked with Valentin Madouas (second in 2023) and Romain Gregoire other riders at the start who could ensure a top result. In addition to Martinez Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) is one of the up-and-coming young talents shaking up professional cycling. The 22-year-old Belgian recently surprised everyone with his overall victory in the UAE Tour, which he secured with a success in the mountain finish on the final stage. He is making his debut at Strade Bianche and could spring a surprise.
Strade Bianche 2024: The start list
Ineos Grenadiers
- 1 Thomas Pidcock
- 2 Thyme Arensman
- 3 Kim Heiduk
- 4 Michal Kwiatkowski
- 5 Salvatore Puccio
- 6 Magnus Sheffield
- 7 Geraint Thomas
Alpecin-Deceuninck
- 11 Quinten Hermans
- 12 Nicola Conci
- 13 Michael Gogl
- 14 Juri Hollmann
- 15 Oscar Riesebeek
- 16 Fabio van den Bossche
- 17 Gianni Vermeersch
Arkea-B&B Hotels
- 21 Vincenzo Albanese
- 22 Anthony Delaplace
- 23 Simon Guglielmi
- 24 Cristian Rodriguez
- 25 Kevin Ledanois
- 26 Kevin Vauquelin
- 27 Clement Venturini
Astana Qazaqstan Team
- 31 Simone Velasco
- 32 Gleb Brussenkiy
- 33 Yevgeniy Fedorov
- 34 Gianmarco Garofoli
- 35 Michele Gazzoli
- 36 Harold Martin Lopez
- 37 Ide Schelling
Bora-Hansgrohe
- 41 Sergio Higuita
- 42 Giovanni Aleotti
- 43 Cesare Benedetti
- 44 Patrick Gamper
- 45 Lennard Kämna
- 46 Jonas Koch
- 47 Daniel Felipe Martinez
Cofidis
- 51 Guillaume Martin
- 52 Thomas Champion
- 53 Eddy Fine
- 54 Simon Geschke
- 55 Jonathan Lastra
- 56 Axel Mariault
- 57 Axel Zingle
Team Corratec - Vini Fantini
- 61 Kristian Sbaragli
- 62 Davide Baldaccini
- 63 Niccolo Bonifazio
- 64 Valerio Conti
- 65 Valentin Darbellay
- 66 Lorenzo Quartucci
- 67 Mark Stewart
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
- 71 Benoit Cosnefroy
- 72 Jaakko Hänninen
- 73 Jordan Labrosse
- 74 Paul Lapeira
- 75 Nans Peters
- 76 Bastien Tronchon
- 77 Andrea Vendrame
EF Education EasyPost
- 81 Alberto Bettiol
- 82 Richard Carapaz
- 83 Stefan de Bod
- 84 Ben Healy
- 85 Mikkel Frölich Honore
- 86 Neilson Powless
- 87 James Shaw
Groupama-FDJ
- 91 Valentin Madouas
- 92 Lewis Askey
- 93 Lorenzo Germani
- 94 Romain Gregoire
- 95 Olivier Le Gac
- 96 Fabian Lienhard
- 97 Lenny Martinez
Intermarche-Wanty
- 101 Lorenzo Rota
- 102 Francesco Busatto
- 103 Kevin Colleoni
- 104 Tom Paquot
- 105 Simone Petilli
- 106 Dion Smith
- 107 Pure Taaramäe
Israel-Premier Tech
- 111 Dylan Teuns
- 112 Simon Clarke
- 113 Marco Frigo
- 114 Krists Neilands
- 115 Nadav Raisberg
- 116 Riley Sheehan
- 117 Stephen Williams
Lidl Trek
- 121 Andrea Bagioli
- 122 Fabio Felline
- 123 Jacopo Mosca
- 124 Quinn Simmons
- 125 Toms Skujins
- 126 Edward Theuns
- 127 Mathias Vacek
Lotto-Dstny
- 131 Lennert van Eetvelt
- 132 Johannes Adamietz
- 133 Jenno Berckmoes
- 134 Logan Currie
- 135 Arjen Livyns
- 136 Sylvain Moniquet
- 137 Maxim van Gils
Movistar
- 141 Davide Formolo
- 142 Carlos Canal
- 143 Ivan Garcia Cortina
- 144 Nelson Oliveira
- 145 Vinicius Rangel
- 146 Sergio Samitier
- 147 Gonzalo Serrano
Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
- 151 Gianluca Brambilla
- 152 Walter Calzoni
- 153 Filippo Conca
- 154 David de la Cruz
- 155 Mark Donovan
- 156 Alessandro Fancellu
- 157 James Wheelan
Soudal - Quick Step
- 161 Julian Alaphilippe
- 162 Kasper Asgreen
- 163 Josef Cerny
- 164 Antoine Huby
- 165 Paul Magnier
- 166 Pieter Serry
- 167 Mauri Vansevenant
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
- 171 Romain Bardet
- 172 Warren Barguil
- 173 Bram Welten
- 174 Romain Combaud
- 175 Chris Hamilton
- 176 Frank van den Broek
- 177 Kevin Vermaerke
Team Jayco-AlUla
- 181 Lawson Craddock
- 182 Alessandro De Marchi
- 183 Davide De Pretto
- 184 Felix Engelhardt
- 185 Christopher Juul-Jensen
- 186 Rudy Porter
- 187 Filippo Zana
Polti-Kometa
- 191 Davide De Cassan
- 192 Erik Fetter
- 193 German Dario Gomez
- 194 Francisco Munoz
- 195 Andrea Pietrobon
- 196 Alex Martin
- 197 Diego Pablo Sevilla
Visma | Lease a Bike
- 201 Christophe Laporte
- 202 Sepp Kuss
- 203 Bart Lemmen
- 204 Ben Tulett
- 205 Attila Valter
- 206 Tosh van der Sande
- 207 Julien Vermote
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
- 211 Sebastien Reichenbach
- 212 Nils Brun
- 213 Lucas Eriksson
- 214 Alexander Kamp
- 215 Roland Thalmann
- 216 Hannes Wilksch
- 217 Luc Wirtgen
UAE Team Emirates
- 221 Tadej Pogacar
- 222 Filippo Baroncini
- 223 Jan Christen
- 224 Isaac Del Toro
- 225 Marc Hirschi
- 226 Domen Novak
- 227 Tim Wellens
Uno-X Mobility
- 231 Magnus Cort Nielsen
- 232 Jonas Abrahamsen
- 233 Martin Urianstad Bugge
- 234 Odd Christian Eiking
- 235 Markus Hoelgaard
- 236 Jonas Iversby Hvideberg
- 237 Anders Halland Johannessen
Bahrain-Victorious
- 241 Matej Mohoric
- 242 Nicolo Buratti
- 243 Matevz Govekar
- 244 Fran Miholjevic
- 245 Andrea Pasqualon
- 246 Torstein Traeen
- 247 Edoardo Zambanini
