photo credits @ Strade Bianchi
Despite an epic crash with 50km to go, a battered and bruised Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) claimed his third victory in Strade Bianchi today, after dropping Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) with 19km remaining.
The duo reached the penultimate gravel sector at Colle Pinzuto together, before Pogačar delivered his stinging attack, leaving his British rival unable to respond.
Meanwhile, Pogačar’s teammate Tim Wellens finished solo in third place to seize the final spot on the podium after the field was strung out following a brutal acceleration by Pidcock on the Monte Sante Marie with 78km left.
Earlier, a small group of 10 riders quickly jettisoned the peloton after the start. But, the number of escapees was reduced to 6 with 90km remaining, leaving Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers), Mark Donovan (Q36.5), Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-QuickStep), Anders Foldager (Jayco AlUla) and Fabian Weiss (Tudor) out front, before Swift forged ahead alone.
In the meantime, UAE Team Emirates was pulling hard for Pogačar, setting up the Slovenian rider to attack with 81km left. However, Pidcock countered shortly thereafter, with Pogačar closely marking his move.
From there, the pair eventually caught the breakaway group, along with Swift soon afterward.
Pidcock and Pogačar continued to alternate at the front, while Swift managed to get back on terms with the leaders.
While putting pressure on Pidcock, Pogačar slid out dramatically on a sweeping left-hand bend. As a result, the grass-stained and bloodied World Champion lost 30 seconds, while Pidcock decided to wait for him to rejoin the fray.
Reunited with 46km left, they had a minute over the nearest chasers as they reached the second-last gravel sector with just over 19km remaining, with Pogačar commencing his winning move with just under 19km to go, powering his way to victory by almost a minute and a half over Pidcock.
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