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If you only read the post-race headline, you might have assumed that Strade Bianche went exactly how you expected. World champion Tadej Pogačar attacks, drops everybody, and soloes to victory. That is what happened in the end, but the race didn’t play out like we expected.
In fact, this year’s Strade Bianche was one of the most dramatic in recent memory. At one point, the world champion was flipping upside down into the grass at more than 50 kph. Then, Pogačar was 30 seconds behind the race leader, battered and bruised, with parts of his rainbow jersey torn to shreds.
But then, Pogačar produced the performance we all thought was possible. The world champion dropped Tom Pidcock off his wheel with a 10w/kg seated attack, and that was that. But let’s go back to the beginning of Strade Bianche.
Before television coverage started, a number of race favorites crashed out, including Christian Scaroni and David Gaudu. The youngest rider in the race, Albert Withen Philipsen, made it into the early breakaway along with Connor Swift, Lewis Askey, and others.
The 2025 edition of Strade Bianche was 213.2 km long with more than 3,700 meters of climbing. That meant this classic was one for the climbers. Mathieu van der Poel has won Strade Bianche in the past, but now he says the race has too much elevation gain to suit a rider of his stature. But that didn’t stop the 75kg Swift from jumping into the early breakaway.
It took more than 100km for Team UAE-Emirates XRG and Pogačar to catch the breakaway, who rode an incredible race from kilometer zero. Swift had a Normalized Power of nearly 400w for three and a half hours at the start of the race.
With 90 km to go, Team UAE-Emirates XRG had already whittled the peloton down to less than 25 riders. Most of the pre-race favorites were gone, but there was a former Strade Bianche winner glued to Pogačar’s wheel: Tom Pidcock.
The Brit rode a brilliant race from start to finish, and he was laser focused on the world champion as the pace ramped up. Isaac Del Toro began pushing the pace on the Sante Marie gravel sector, the same sector where Pogačar attacked in 2024. Tim Wellens took over, and to everyone’s surprise, Pidcock put in the first attack on a steep gravel section.
It only took a few seconds for Pogačar to counter, and that was enough to drop everyone but Pidcock off his wheel. This is the first time in the race that we’ve seen Pogačar attack, and we can see exactly what he looks like at his best. Seated at over 100 rpm, Pogačar is able to push over 600w for 30-90sec. The steep gravel climbers of Strade Bianche are not the best place to attack out of the saddle at 1,000w, so these seated efforts are perfect for Pogačar’s wind-ups.
Pogačar’s Seated Attacks
- Time: 30-90 seconds
- Average Power: >600w (>9.3w/kg)
- Cadence: >100 rpm seated
Pidcock was still there after the Sante Marie sector, and next up was a long section of rolling tarmac. That meant the speeds were higher and the draft more beneficial, so neither Pogačar nor Pidcock attacked each other during this section of the race. At the same time, the duo had caught the day’s breakaway, of which Swift was the strongest.
With roughly 50 km to go, Swift was riding on the wheels of Pidcock and Pogačar. The Ineos rider didn’t take a single pull, but he was still working incredibly hard to stay with the leaders. Take a look at this false flat section. This is a rolling stretch of road with an average gradient of 1.3%. Swift was in the draft of the world champion, but he was still pushing well over 400w, or nearly 6w/kg, just to stay in the wheel.
Swift – What it Takes to Hold Pogačar’s Wheel
- Time: 3:10
- Average Power: 425w (5.7w/kg)
At this point, it looked like an easy win for Pogačar. All he had to do was ride the last two riders off his wheel. But all of a sudden the camera cuts to the world champion tumbling into the grass. Pogačar had taken the lead through a fast left-hander and slid out at very high speed.
The next thing we see is the world champion climbing onto his feet, his helmet and sunglasses are crooked, but he looks okay. His rainbow jersey is sporting holes and road rash, but Pogačar gets back on the bike and accelerates back up to full speed. Pidcock had avoided the crash, and now the Brit had a 30-second lead over a bleeding Pogačar.
You can actually see the exact moment where Pogačar and his bike went flying off the road in his Strava file. The world champion was going nearly 70 kph when he crashed, so it’s a miracle that he is okay.
After a quick bike change, Pogačar was back into race mode, chasing down Pidcock with a full head of steam. It only took the world champion a few minutes to catch Swift, and the Brit was pushing 500w to stay in the wheel. After Swift cracked, Pogačar had one rider left to catch, and it wasn’t long before Pidcock and Pogačar were together again at the front of the race. The world champion pushed over 7w/kg for 4:48 during this furious chase, according to Velon CC.
Pogačar – Chase After High-Speed Crash
- Time: 4:48
- Average Power: 470w (7.3w/kg)
That is a race-winning effort in and of itself, but the race was far from over. With 19 km to go, one of the steepest climbs of the race began: the Colle Pinzuto. If anyone was doubting Pogačar’s strength, he put those doubts to rest as he accelerated up the 16% gradient. It was another one of Pogačar’s signature seated attacks: in the saddle at nearly 100 rpm, Pogačar held 630w for more than a minute to drop Pidcock.
Not only did Pogačar ride Pidcock off his wheel, he also took the Strava KOM on the Colle Pinzuto. After crashing at 60 kph, Pogačar climbed the Colle Pinzuto in one minute and six seconds, a full five seconds faster than the next-best rider.
Pogačar – Attack to the Colle Pinzuto
- Time: 1:06
- Average Power: 630w (9.8w/kg)
The world champion went on to win solo, over a minute ahead of Pidcock and two minutes ahead of Tim Wellens. It wasn’t a perfect day for Pogačar, but it was certainly an incredible performance.
When we look at the numbers, we can see that Pogačar was a step above everyone else in the race. When the Slovenian attacked the Sante Marie sector, he dropped everyone but Pidcock. Then, after crashing at high-speed, Pogačar did over 7w/kg for five minutes to come back to the front of the race.
Bleeding from the shoulder, elbow, and hip, Pogačar was significantly hurt by the crash, but that didn’t stop him from producing over 600w for a minute to drop Pidcock for good. The long-term effects of the crash are another conversation, but Pogačar’s fitness is clearly good. We haven’t seen him fight against his biggest rivals yet — Mathieu Van der Poel in the Classics and Jonas Vingegaard in the stage races — but that is coming soon.
Assuming his recovery is quick and smooth, we will see Pogačar line up to race four times in the next month, with two of those being Monuments in Milan-San Remo and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. I think it’s safe to say that Pogačar’s best is yet to come.
Power Analysis data courtesy of Strava
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