{"id":464507,"date":"2026-03-08T16:30:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T16:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/464507\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T16:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T16:30:27","slug":"the-dust-drama-despair-and-delight-of-strade-bianche-2026-photo-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/464507\/","title":{"rendered":"The dust, drama, despair, and delight of Strade Bianche 2026 \u2013 Photo gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Strade Bianche, as Patrick Lefevere noted on Saturday, is a “photographer’s dream”, and the 2026 edition did not let us down.<\/p>\n

Lefevere, the former Belgian team boss, was in fact complaining about the way the men’s race has gone<\/a> over the years, and he won’t have been best pleased as Tadej Poga\u010dar romped home from almost 80km out once again, collecting a record-breaking fourth title.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What the men’s race<\/a> lacked in suspense, the women’s race<\/a> more than made up for, with a rip-roaring day on the Tuscan gravel, made up of endless attacks, wrong turns, and a pulsating finale in Siena, where Elise Chabbey upset the bigger names for the biggest win of her career.<\/p>\n

However the races play out, the photos from Strade Bianche are always special, and we’ve picked out some of the best for you to enjoy in all their full-width glory.<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

We start with a classically beautiful shot of the rolling Tuscan landscape<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Strade Bianche is a race that demands repeated punches<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There was one man who looked like he was able to enjoy himself<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Strade Bianche can be a lonely experience out the back as well as off the front<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

World champion Magdeleine Vallieres in the thick of the action on the gravel<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The white roads kick up clouds of that famous dust<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Else Chabbey and Dominika Wlodarczyk ride through the dust at the head of the women’s race<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A peloton of riders on the gravel and a lone fan on the hilltop<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Strade Bianche can be a painful experience<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Aude Biannic rides on bloodied and bruised<\/p>\n

\n

\"Team\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

UAE Team Emirates-XRG took control of the men’s race on the key gravel sectors<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And it wasn’t long before Tadej Poga\u010dar took flight<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Once he was off, he was never seen again, apart from by the masses of fans<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Elisa Longo Borghini lights it up on the sterrato<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A stunning sector gravel here and a ripper of a downhill<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Wheels are held aloft all along the course for those who puncture on the gravel<\/p>\n

\n

\"Strade\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The favourites in the women’s race all to the fore here but mechanicals and wrong turns would flip the race upside down<\/p>\n

\n

\"The\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There were groups everywhere after the men’s race exploded<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And attacks were flying throughout the women’s race<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Wout van Aert plots a line through the hordes of fans<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Elise Chabbey was on the attack on the gravel from far out, and she’d go on to beat the bigger names into the Piazza del Campo<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The chopper whirs overhead<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There was plenty of support out there for Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The presence of Poga\u010dar’s UAE teammates hampered the chase<\/p>\n

\n

\"SIENA,\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The stunning final climb of the Via Santa Caterina in Siena <\/p>\n

\n

\"UAE\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar and his protege Isaac del Toro in the Piazza del Campo<\/p>\n

\n

\"Team\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

War stories are exchanged<\/p>\n

\n

\"Scenes\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Thomas Maheux \/ SW Pix)<\/p>\n

Disappointments are digested<\/p>\n

\n

\"Scenes\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Thomas Maheux \/ SW Pix)<\/p>\n

Teammates turn fans for the podium ceremony<\/p>\n

\n

\"UAE\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And one man further enshrines his status in cycling legend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Strade Bianche, as Patrick Lefevere noted on Saturday, is a “photographer’s dream”, and the 2026 edition did not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-464507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}