“We rely on his talent” - INEOS go all-in with former podium finisher Egan Bernal at Strade Bianche 2026

When INEOS Grenadiers line up at Strade Bianche this weekend, the British team will do so with a clear focal point: Egan Bernal. The Colombian is the rider the team intend to build around on the gravel roads of Tuscany.

Speaking about the upcoming race programme, sports director Leonardo Basso made clear that Bernal will be the central figure in the squad’s strategy for the race in Siena.

“For Strade Bianche we naturally have Egan Bernal,” Basso said in conversation with Bici.Pro. “He already finished on the podium in 2021 and knows how to race it. We rely on his talent. He will be our reference point on Saturday.”

Bernal’s leadership status at Strade Bianche is built on a performance that remains one of the strongest of his early career in one-day racing.

In 2021 he finished third in Siena, reaching the podium behind Mathieu van der Poel and Julian Alaphilippe after an aggressive display across the sterrato sectors. The result came only weeks before he went on to win the Giro d'Italia, confirming both his climbing form and his ability to handle the distinctive demands of Tuscany’s gravel roads.

That combination remains central to why INEOS see Bernal as their best card to play. The race rewards riders capable of repeated accelerations on steep climbs and technical gravel sections, qualities that suit the Colombian’s explosive climbing style and off-road background.

If he is to improve on that podium, however, Bernal will likely find himself facing some of the most dominant riders of the current generation. Among those expected to contest victory in Siena are Tadej Pogacar, who has dominated recent editions of the race, Wout van Aert, the 2020 winner, and Tom Pidcock, the 2023 champion and one of the peloton’s most technically gifted riders on gravel terrain.

Strade Bianche also marks the beginning of a key Italian stretch in the INEOS calendar, with the team planning to continue Bernal’s campaign immediately afterwards. “Bernal will then stay in Italy for Tirreno-Adriatico together with Thymen Arensman,” Basso explained in the same interview. “They will be our leaders for the general classification.”

The seven-day race offers a different challenge to the explosive chaos of Strade Bianche, but the team expect the Colombian to remain central to their ambitions.

Alongside the general classification ambitions, INEOS will also bring additional firepower to the race through Filippo Ganna. “At Tirreno we will also have Filippo Ganna,” Basso said. “As usual, he will focus mainly on the stages. We want to start well with the opening time trial, and then we will see day by day.”

The Italian’s programme also feeds directly into one of the biggest targets of the early season.

While Bernal and Arensman will anchor the Tirreno general classification bid, Ganna’s schedule is being shaped with Milano-Sanremo firmly in mind. “Of course, Tirreno will help the condition before Sanremo,” Basso said. “But cycling has changed compared to twenty years ago. Now you try to make the most of every race, so Tirreno is important in itself.”

For the Monument on the Ligurian coast, the Italian time trial powerhouse will once again be the team’s reference. "Ganna arrives after two podium finishes,” Basso added. “So he will be our reference for the finish on Via Roma, and we will try to support him as best we can.”

The Italian spring races could also offer the first indications of how INEOS plan to approach the season’s first Grand Tour.

Bernal’s presence alongside Arensman at Tirreno-Adriatico has already fuelled speculation that the pair could form the backbone of the team’s Giro d'Italia squad.

Yet Basso insists it is still too early to draw firm conclusions. “We have planning underway,” he said. “For Bernal, this could be considered a first step. But modern cycling is complex, and we want to remain flexible.”

“At the Giro, a team like ours cannot avoid trying to be protagonists in the general classification,” he continued. “But at the same time, we also need to be ready to take opportunities for stage wins. The balance between those objectives is important.”

For now, however, those longer-term plans remain secondary. The first test comes on the gravel roads leading to Siena, where INEOS have made their position clear.

On Saturday, Bernal will not simply be part of the race. He will be the rider the team trust most when the decisive moves begin on the white roads of Tuscany.