The first major classic of the 2025 season is here. On March 8th, the peloton takes on Strade Bianche. This year's edition will once again feature Tadej Pogacar, with the Slovenian world champion defending the title he won last season with a typically stunning solo exhibition.
Pogacar comes from winning his first race of the year: the UAE Tour. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG star took the two mountain stages with a superiority to which he is accustomed in his team's home race, with the script seemingly likely to be no different at Strade Bianche, one of the Slovenian's favourites.
In 2024, he won his second title with an attack 81 kilometres from the finish. Now that the list of stars who will race the Strade Bianche in 2025 (Mikel Landa, Tom Pidcock, Richard Carapaz, Matej Mohoric, Maxim van Gils, Ben Healy, Lennert van Eetvelt, Alex Aranburu...) have been largely confirmed, will anyone be able to beat him? In principle, Pogacar is the absolute favourite. But there are 3 riders in particular that we think can make things very complicated for him...
1. Tom Pidcock
Probably the main rival Pogacar will have. Tom Pidcock has started 2025 in style. After swapping the INEOS Grenadiers for the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, the Brit has taken the first general classification win of his career at the AlUla Tour along with two stages in Saudi Arabia. He also took a stage in his next event: the Vuelta a Andalucía.
Tom Pidcock won Strade Bianche 2023 while still riding for INEOS Grenadiers. He did so 20 seconds ahead of 2nd, Valentin Madouas. He knows what it takes to dominate a big classic like this.
Pidcock knows what it takes to win Strade Bianche
2. Ben Healy
In 2023, Healy rose to stardom as one of the peloton's bravest and most defiantly attacking riders. His attitude in the races gave him big results such as, most notably, a stage victory in the Giro d'Italia. In addition, that year he starred in an epic fight against Tadej Pogacar in the Amstel Gold Race, although he ultimately came up just short.
The Irishman was the only one who was able to keep up with Pogacar in that edition. The Slovenian beat him by 38 seconds, with Tom Pidcock 3rd. There is no doubt that, if the legs respond, the Irishman can more than give the world champion food for thought.
Healy has previously run Pogacar close at the Amstel Gold Race
3. Maxim van Gils
In 2024, behind Tadej Pogacar's historic attack, Maxim van Gils proved that Strade Bianche is a race that suits him very well. At the time, the 24-year-old was riding for Lotto, and he took 3rd place on the podium.
Now 25 years old and having secured a big winter move to the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe team, the Belgian has everything in his favour to improve on last year's third place. Van Gils already knows what it's like to win in the Red Bull jersey. He took the opening stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía. But there is no better stage to confirm that he can become a big star than to challenge Tadej Pogacar for a whole Strade Bianche.
Van Gils podiumed alongside Pogacar at last year's Strade Bianche
Read also
1️⃣ Week.
— Strade Bianche (@StradeBianche) March 1, 2025
7️⃣ Days.
1️⃣6️⃣8️⃣ Hours.
See you in Siena next week💥
Ci vediamo a Siena la prossima settimana💥#StradeBianche @Ca | #TudorWatch #BornToDare ⏱️ pic.twitter.com/ySCZfAG8ej
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- wtf dudemij07-11-2026
- big rival … ridiculous.Ketterechts07-11-2026
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MarkFour07-11-2026 - This is a really interesting idea, which, if well prepared could even be very successful. Very little money needs to be involved for a first season and any success could lead to rapid interest from sponsors.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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- Seriously do you think when somebody gets into a serious accident, the ambulance is called by the hurt person?🤦 there is always a buddy system in place for a risky job. police , firefighters etc so that if someone gets hurt, the other call that in.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
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- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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