This year’s Strade Bianche was one of the toughest yet as for the first time in 19 editions there were more than 80 kilometres of the white gravel that gives the race its name. There were 16 gravel sectors, totalling 81.7 kilometres, on the 213-kilometer route.
The day had not started well for Bahrain Victorious with the news that the team’s top performer last year, Matej Mohorič was unable to take the start due to illness. But by the end of the race the mood was certainly upbeat following a fantastic ride from Pello Bilbao to secure 5th place, matching Mohorič’s result 12 months ago.
Bilbao was a little over four minutes behind the record breaking World Champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE), who became the first man since Fabian Cancellara to win the Tuscan classic three times, despite crashing heavily 50km from the finish.
With Pogacar and Tom Pidcock (Q36 and winner here in 2023) out in front, a small group including Bahrain’s leader competed for the remaining top spots. Tim Wellens (UAE) broke free of Bilbao, Ben Healy (EFE) and Roger Adria (RBH) to take third.
The stunning finale in Siena was the setting for Bilbao to come in behind Healy, making it four top ten results in his four appearances, and confirming this Italian race as one of the Basque rider’s favourites.
”Crazy race. I really enjoyed it. Once you are in front of this race you enjoy very much. I was all the 213 kilometres in the game. Super intense day, I was trying to improve position every time. I needed to put my foot down three or four times because of the crashes but I was always trying to come back and never give up. I had all the time in my mind that race was longer and that I needed to always play intelligent and find the riders for good collaboration and we did our best. It was impossible to fight for the podium. In Sante Marie they went, I couldn’t follow that pace but I was able to organise a good group at the back and I was always trying to make some moves to be always there to collaborate with the rest of the guys. I found also Roger there, he has a lot of class and he could understand and we arrived at the finish together.
It is a pity Matej was not there. It would be much easier because I was alone, but I am happy with 5th place today.”
Sports Director Gorazd Štangelj added: “Considering that we were without Matej, essentially one of the key competitors for such a race and also the most experienced, since he was also among the top five last year, as Pello is today. The chances of a good result were significantly reduced by at least half, given all the circumstances, and we can be happy that the one and only leader we had did not have any problems. After all, just one small problem in this race can mean a withdrawal. The strategy changed this morning, everything was focused on Pello. All the selection was made in the first half of the race and we offered him all the support there. After the selection was made, fortunately, he found himself well on his own. And he was not in at a big deficit compared to the other cyclists, since they were mostly one-on-one. He found great allies with Roger and Ben. We are happy that it ended the way it did, but more than that could not have been expected today. Pello is known for always getting 100% out of every situation and that was the case today.”
