"Recon day 1" - Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates take preparations to infamous gravel of Strade Bianche

On the 2nd of March, Tadej Pogacar makes his much-anticipated return to road racing, leading the UAE Team Emirates hopes at Strade Bianche.

In a post on the official Instagram account of UAE Team Emirates, the Slovenian superstar is pictured alongside the likes of Tim Wellens, Isaac del Toro, Jan Christen and Marc Hirschi among others, checking out the infamous 'white roads' of gravel that make Strade Bianche such an entertaining spectacle for the fans.

The 2024 edition of Strade Bianche is widely regarded as the toughest-ever edition of the Italian one-day race, with a profile of more than 200km in length and a record-breaking amount of gravel as race organisers attempt to put forward the race's case to added by the UCI to the list of cycling monuments.

For his part, Pogacar enters the race as favourite, despite the fact it's his first outing of the season but the Slovenian can expect fierce competition from the likes of his compatriot, Matej Mohoric, INEOS Grenadiers' Tom Pidcock and EF Education-EasyPost's Ben Healy among others.

Check out the pictures of Pogacar and co doing their recon down below!