The first major classic of the 2026 cycling season is here. This Saturday the peloton lines up for one of the most spectacular races on the calendar: Strade Bianche. Known for its breathtaking scenery and famous white gravel roads, the Italian classic has quickly become a fan favourite.
In this year’s edition the riders will face nearly 64 kilometres of gravel sectors, making positioning, bike handling and endurance crucial. But the gravel roads are not the only challenge. The route also features several short, steep climbs, before the riders tackle the famous final ascent in Siena where gradients reach up to 16% just before the finish on Piazza del Campo.
With such a demanding course, Strade Bianche rarely follows a predictable script.
🔥 Sign up now and play Fantasy Strade Bianche & grab your share of $1735 / €1,500 / £ 1,300+! 🚴♂️
🔥 Sign up now and play Fantasy Strade Bianche & grab your share of $1735 / €1,500 / £ 1,300+! 🚴♂️
The riders to watch
Once again, the rider everyone will be watching is Tadej Pogačar. The world champion crashed during last year’s race but still managed to recover and defeat Tom Pidcock in impressive fashion.
Pidcock will again be among the main challengers, while riders like Wout van Aert will also aim to dominate the gravel roads of Tuscany. Meanwhile emerging talents such as Paul Seixas and UAE Team Emirates rider Isaac del Toro could also play a major role in shaping the race.
With so many strong contenders and unpredictable racing, selecting the right riders for your fantasy team will be a real challenge.
Build your Fantasy Strade Bianche team
The Fantasy Strade Bianche game starts on Saturday 7 March 2026 at 11:45.
Participants receive a budget of €135 million to select 13 riders. The goal is to build the strongest possible team and score the most points based on the performances of your selected riders during the race.
Choosing the right mix of favourites, outsiders and potential surprise riders could make all the difference on the leaderboard.
Sign up now and play Fantasy Strade Bianche & grab your share of $1735 / €1,500 / £ 1,300+! 🚴♂️💰
Sign up now and play Fantasy Strade Bianche & grab your share of $1735 / €1,500 / £ 1,300+! 🚴♂️💰
Entry fee and prize pool
Participation costs $ 11,59 / €10 / £8,70 per team.
The game starts with a guaranteed prize pool of $1735 / €1,500 / £ 1,300, with $350 /€300 / £260 awarded to the winner. In total there are 24 GC prizes, meaning multiple participants will have the chance to finish among the prize winners.
Now also available for players in the USA
Good news for American cycling fans: it is now also possible for players from many U.S. states to participate in fantasy games on Zweeler.
Currently players from the following states can play:
Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Test your cycling insight
Strade Bianche is famous for its unpredictable racing, spectacular attacks and dramatic finales. That makes it the perfect race to test your cycling knowledge and strategy.
Select your riders, follow the action on the gravel roads of Tuscany and see if you can build the best team in Fantasy Strade Bianche.
Sign up now and play Fantasy Strade Bianche & grab your share of $1735 / €1,500 / £ 1,300+! 🚴♂️💰
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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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
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- 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
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
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