This is quite possibly the most beautiful race on the entire calendar and also one of the newest (this will be the 18th edition). The race is 215 kilometers from Siena to Siena with 3,669 meters of elevation gain, but critically, 15 gravel sectors with steep uphills and downhills. The name of the race literally means “white roads”. I have been to the Pizza del Campo (the town square) where the race finishes, I only wish I have been there when the race was happening.
The course is changed this year with 30 additional kilometers and more of the hard gravel sectors, which of course means more elevation gain. This will further separete the strong from the also-rans. But the core dynamic of the race is the same. I don’t know if I like the route change as it was kind of perfect already. But maybe it will be even more attritional this time. However, the strongest riders tend to win no matter what these days, so I don’t think that an additional 45 minutes of riding will change much.
Only one of the Big Six is riding this year, and it’s the Big One: Tadej Pogacar starts his 2024 campaign here and will not settle for second place. He’s rumored to be flying in training and enters Strade as the overwhelming favorite. He has already won the race in 2022, and likely the only reason he is not the two-time defending champion is because he skipped it last year.
He starts with a good team that should be the strongest in the race, with Visma not sending their best, and this being a bit of a tweener race (between cobbled bergs and alpine mountains), they don’t have the firepower to compete with UAE on this course anyway. Tim Wellens and Marc Hirschi should be the chief supporters for Pogi. But I am excited to see what young Jan Christen and Isaac del Toro can do.
The other contenders for the win are defending champion Tom Pidcock, Christophe Laporte, Dani Martinez, Neilson Powless, Quinn Simmons, Attila Valter, Sepp Kuss, and Matej Mohoric.
There are some other hitters in there, like Richard Carapaz, but they are looking out of form or just not good enough for this parcours.
I’m going to go with guys in form and the chalk.
I expect the race to be brutal, with UAE sacrificing their youngsters early to set a rapid pace that shreds most of the peloton off of Pogacar’s wheel. Tim Wellens will survive Hirschi’s watt bomb after Pogacar takes off for the win and take a solo second place. Dani Martinez will win the sprint for third.
My final prediction is 1). Tadej Pogacar 2). Tim Wellens 3). Dani Martinez
It should be an easy win for Pogacar, so perhaps not the most exciting race, but certainly some of the best scenery on the calendar. I’d tune in to as much of the race as possible on Saturday.
Paris-Nice starts the day after Strade and Tirreno the day after that, so I’ll have previews of those races, as well as the Strade recap, up soon too.
Jamie
Puncheur 
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