Wout Van Aert broke the record on Piazza del Campo to finally break his curse of second places

Wout Van Aert got rid of his curse in the ninth stage of Giro d'Italia and on the Piazza del Campo, he celebrated the first victory of 2025. In a breathtaking finale against youngster Isaac Del Toro in the streets of Siena, the Belgian narrowly edged out his Mexican opponent to finally break the streak of second places in one-on-one sprints that was following his name.

Strade Bianche traditionally finishes with a famous steep climb to Piazza del Campo. However it's not traditional to have a fight for victory until the finish line, especially in the era of Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel. In that sense the finish of Sunday's stage of Giro d'Italia, albeit it didn't follow the exact parcours, was an exception to that rule with a sprint a deux.

So what's so interesting about that?

That Wout Van Aert broke the Strava KOM record on the final ramp that is so typical for Strade Bianche. Previously, Mathieu van der Poel's effort from 2021 held the crown on the popular app. However Van Aert dethroned his cyclocross rival with a time of one minute and 22 seconds in which he covered the distance from Via Santa Caterina to the finish line.