The Slovenian currently shares the record of three victories with Cancellara himself, who dominated earlier editions of the Tuscan gravel race in 2008, 2012 and 2016. Pogacar matched that tally with wins in 2022, 2024 and 2025, meaning another triumph would see him stand alone as the event\u2019s most successful rider.<\/p>\n
Both riders have left a permanent mark on the course. Pogacar was recently honoured with a gravel sector on the Colle Pinzuto climb bearing his name<\/a>, while the demanding Monte Sante Marie sector has long carried Cancellara\u2019s name.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething like that is an honour, very special,\u201d Cancellara said. \u201cThis is still quite a young race, especially in the period when I won. When you look at the increased interest, that gesture feels even more special. This is part of the history of our sport. It\u2019s fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n Cancellara acknowledges that Pogacar will once again start among the clear favourites to win in Tuscany. \u201cOn paper, it is fairly clear, but the race still has to be ridden.\u201d<\/p>\n And if the Slovenian does break the record this weekend, the Swiss insists he will have no problem seeing his own mark surpassed. \u201cIf Tadej wins, I have absolutely no problem with that. It is an honour to share that title with him. But if someone from Tudor wins, I will be even happier,\u201d he added with a smile.<\/p>\n Fabian Cancellara presents Tadej Pogacar with a monument honour ahead of Strade Bianche 2026<\/p>\n The rival who will not be there<\/p>\n While Pogacar\u2019s pursuit of a fourth Strade Bianche victory dominates the build-up, one of the race\u2019s most explosive riders will once again be absent from the Tuscan start line.<\/p>\n Mathieu van der Poel<\/a>, winner of the race in 2021 after a spectacular late attack into Siena, has chosen not to include Strade Bianche in his spring programme.His absence has reignited debate about whether the race has gradually become too demanding for riders whose main objectives lie in the cobbled Classics. Earlier this week, Van der Poel\u2019s team suggested that the increasingly demanding course, with its growing elevation and longer gravel climbs, has shifted the race profile.<\/a><\/p>\n Cancellara, however, takes a different view.<\/p>\n \u201cHas Strade become too hard? Yes and no,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Strade has become more difficult, but I am convinced that Van der Poel would have a chance here.\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than the terrain itself, the Swiss believes the explanation lies in how riders structure their seasons. \u201cThis race perhaps just did not fit into his planning. Nobody needs to judge that.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, that leaves Pogacar once again at the centre of the story when the peloton rolls onto Tuscany\u2019s white gravel roads, chasing both victory and a place alone in the history of one of cycling\u2019s most distinctive races.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cancellara also noted an intriguing element of Pogacar\u2019s 2026 season: a lighter racing calendar than in previous…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,166091,77973,85,177851,6494,54302],"class_list":["post-528718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-fabian-cancellara","tag-mathieu-van-der-poel","tag-sports","tag-strade-bianche","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-tudor-pro-cycling-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Fabian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fabian-cancellara-tadej-pogacar-69a9a75d4ad8c.jpg@webp.webp\")
<\/p>\n