Strade Bianche, Pogacar: ‘Incredible victory, I stretched and nobody followed me’

He built the masterpiece 50 km from the finish and in Piazza del Campo he reaped the fruits of the splendid action brought to Val d’Orcia. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar is over the moon for the victory in the Strade Bianche, a race that year after year is carving out an increasingly important place on the international scene.

“What an incredible victory. I attacked from afar but only when I saw the 5km sign at the finish did I realize that I would make it ”.

Attack

—

The 23-year-old Slovenian led the decisive attack 50km from the finish, when the French Alaphilippe had taken the lead in the group by picking up the pace. “I wanted to accelerate on the stretch of dirt road of Monte Sante Marie, no one followed me and I found myself alone in the lead. I was focused and I was constantly looking back to see if anyone came, until the last kilometer I was not sure I could win. In the end I had very little energy left but it was enough to get to the finish line ”.

Pogacar then recounts the “madness” of a solo attack so many kilometers from the finish. “Sometimes you take the decisive action at 50 km from the finish, sometimes you try it at 10 km, on other occasions you win in a sprint”.