"If you make this race 260km, I think only six people will finish" - Laurens ten Dam and Stefan Bolt debate this year's Strade Bianche

The race organization already hinted at it prior to the Strade Bianche: they want to be a monument and that is why an extra loop of thirty kilometers was added, bringing the total to more than 200. A decision that was very fairly debatable. Tadej Pogacar rode away on Monte Sante Marie and was minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Laurens ten Dam and Stefan Bolt share their own thoughts in the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.

"All Monuments are 260 kilometers or longer. But often in Flanders or Roubaix you simply have a concrete surface or asphalt for the first 100 kilometers," Ten Dam opens the debate.

"If you make this race 260, I think only six people will finish," Bolt says jokingly. This takes into account that the Strade Bianche has been looking for unpaved strips from the start, so there is no time to warm up. "The first strip is already ten kilometers in."

Extending the competition purely for the purpose of awarding 'Monument' status is therefore not a good idea, the men believe. They did not necessarily see a monumental performance on the mat, except of course for Pogacar's solo. "It's a shame that Van der Poel, Van Aert and Roglic didn't start. Then you have a completely different feeling about this race."