Pelayo Sanchez triumphs on Giro d'Italia's Strade Bianche, denying Julian Alaphilippe & Luke Plapp from breakaway

On the 2024 Giro d'Italia's version of Strade Bianche, Movistar Team's Pelayo Sanchez has triumphed from the breakaway ahead of Julian Alaphilippe and Luke Plapp.

With many riders intent on getting into the breakaway, the early fight was an infernal one. With no let up and no group managing to fully snap the elastic, the full gas racing continued throughout the 70 kilometres of flat at the start of the stage.

On the first climb of the day, things looked to be settling down finally as Julian Alaphilippe, Filippo Fiorelli and Aurelien Paret-Peintre went clear. On the the descent though and the subsequent false flat, things ignited once again with that leading trio joined by a counter-attacking group. With the likes of Luke Plapp and Georg Steinhauser within three minutes on GC though, UAE Team Emirates were not content to let this group go.

Finally, with around 100km of racing in the legs, things began to settle down as UAE Team Emirates allowed a seven-rider group to build an advantage of over a minute. In the lead group, the aforementioned Alaphilippe, Fiorelli and Plapp were joined by Pelayo Sanchez, Matteo Trentin, Andrea Vendrame and very impressively, Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter Kaden Groves. With 67km to go, the time gap had extended longer than 2:33, meaning Plapp was now the provisional Maglia Rosa.

As the front of the race reached the first of the gravel sectors, the seven leaders' advantage was 3:12 over the peloton, with things having calmed so much, the dropped sprinters were starting to get back on at the back of the bunch. As the peloton got closer to the gravel however, the pace was accelerated by the battle for position at the front, as GC teams looked to keep their leader safe.

With the INEOS Grenadiers powering the peloton over the gravel, the time gap began to drop considerably and even before the end of the first sector, Plapp was no longer in the provisional race lead. With splits beginning to form, Lidl-Trek took over at the front of the peloton for the second sector with Maglia Ciclamino Jonathan Milan setting the pace.

At the front of the race meanwhile, Plapp, Alaphilippe and Sanchez were beginning to ride clear of their companions. With Thymen Arensman taking over in the peloton though, Ben O'Connor, Daniel Martinez and Einer Rubio were among the notable riders put into difficulty, as the time gap to the front dropped again, to less than a minute and a half.

With things settling down again after the second sector, the leading trio extended their lead back up over two minutes, with Plapp beginning to dream of the Maglia Rosa once again. Through the last gravel sector that lead was cut once again. When Sanchez went on the wrong line round a roundabout, with Alaphilippe following, Plapp was able to power ahead solo. As the leaders entered the final 10km however, the front three were all back together, although just 1:04 ahead of the bunch.

Regrouping well after that blip, the leaders stabilised the gap somewhat and with 5km to go, the difference was still around a minute. With just over 4km to go, Plapp made a move but as he began to tie up, Sanchez and Alaphilippe came around the Aussie National Champ. As the peloton closed to within 30 seconds, Romain Bardet attempted an attack from the bunch but was quickly brought back.

Through the Flamme Rouge, the leading trio still had 20 seconds but the cohesion was starting to collapse. Victory was theirs though and in the fight for the line, Alaphilippe launched first but Sanchez was the victor on Giro debut for Movistar Team.