“They are ruining Strade Bianche by making it longer" - Michel Wuyts slams profile of 'toughest Strade Bianche in history'

On the 2nd of March, Strade Bianche is back on the UCI World Tour calendar. This year's race is set to be a real spectacle too as the Italian one-day race looks to stake it's claim as the unofficial sixth monument with it's toughest ever edition.

With the profile of the 2024 edition of Strade Bianche totalling 215 kilometres, a marked rise from the traditional racing distance of 184 kilometres, the course it not just longer, but also tougher as more gravel than ever is set to tackled by the peloton.

Whilst for many fans, this is much-anticipated, for Belgian cycling expert Michel Wuyts, the tougher and longer Strade Bianche looks like a big mistake. “They are ruining the Strade by making it longer," he complains on the 'Wuyts & Vlaeminck' podcast for HLN. "By making the course even tougher, I fear it will be closed for a long time.”

Guest on that podcast was the recently retired, former Team Visma | Lease a Bike star, Nathan van Hooydonck. “It could be that we already know the winner,” he laughs, referring to the outstanding contender, Tadej Pogacar. “But I also expect a lot from Tom Pidcock. The race is also about 40 kilometres longer this year. And that's a big difference. Based on my values, the Strade Bianche has always been the toughest race of the year. Now it will be an hour longer due to the adjustment of the course.”