Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) will be the ultimate favorite during the Strade Bianche in the absence of Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogacar. Winner in 2021, the Dutchman could therefore add a second gravel victory to his list.
The defending champion, Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), has decided to skip the Strade Bianche to focus on the start of Paris-Nice on Sunday. He had won the Tuscan race last year after a solo 50 kilometer race.
Wout van Aert will leave the reins of the Jumbo-Visma team to Tiesj Benoot, and will start the Tirrenno-Adriatico on Monday. After falling ill in training, Van Aert will be able to take additional rest and start his season with a race where “he does not need to be good right away”, according to Benoot, to calmly prepare for his rise to power. towards “its major objectives: the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. »
Van der Poel will therefore leave as the ultimate favorite although he has not yet raced on the road in 2023. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) and the winner in 2018 Tiesj Benoot will not let him win easily, however.
The race will officially start at 11:45 a.m. and should end around 4:45 p.m. The race can be followed from 12 p.m. on our live commented site. In television, the One will take the antenna from 2 p.m.
Among the ladies, it is Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) who has the favor of the predictions. For the 9th edition of the women’s race, the defending champion, who started her season with a victory at Circuit Het Nieuwsblad last Saturday, will have to be wary of the Dutch world champion Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar). The Dutchman finished second last year, and has already won the race twice, in 2019 and 2020. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-Sram) finished on the Strade Bianche Donne podium four times and will also be part of the competing for victory.