The story of Tadej Pogacar's mysterious bicep device from Strade Bianche reaches a conclusion

Tadej Pogacar and Strade Bianche is a combination that keeps on delivering. For a third year in a row, the Slovenian left no room for doubts about who's the king of Italian sterrato roads with a 79-kilometer solo, just a tiny bit shorter than in 2024. His dominance was without a question, however speculations arose as a mysterious device was spotted on Pogacar's biceps, hidden under the white jersey, as the UAE Team Emirates - XRG superstar raised his hand to the air after crossing the finish line.

The podcast panel from Het Nieuwsblad joined many TV viewers who were wondering about the noticeable black box under Pogacar’s dusty rainbow skinsuit. Yet the tension did not last too long.

Following Whoop's Instagram post regarding Pogacar's powerdata from Saturday's race, it made analysts wonder how were his heart rate, fatigue and sleep quality measured without the typical wrist Whoop wearable visible on the Slovenian's arm next to the $300,000 Richard Mille watch.

As coincidences come sparse, the two pieces of information inevitably correlated with the solution to this mystery turning out to be rather simple. UAE Team Emirates - XRG have confirmed to Velo that it was indeed a less-spread version of Whoop device bicep alternative for users who don’t get on with clutter at their cuffs, or were struggling with unreliable readings. Still, most riders wear the tracker on their wrist, including Pogacar's rival Mathieu van der Poel.