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Here’s Toms Skujiņš at the finish, giving some insight into what it feels like to spend 80 kilometres chasing, and ultimately finishing second to, Tadej Pogačar.
Not only is 81km the furthest to date that’s he’s attacked from to win a major classic, that winning margin also dwarfs those of his other victories – even the 52 seconds he won last year’s Il Lombardia by.
His ultimate winning margin over Toms Skujiņš was 2-44, easily smashing Cancellara’s former record.
So that’s two Strade Bianche titles for Tadej Pogačar, to go along with his three Il Lombardias and one Liège–Bastogne–Liège. When it comes to the climber’s classics, nobody can stop him.
Rounding off the top 10 is Zana in 9th and Laporte in 10th.
6th for Cosnefroy, 7th for Fomolo, and a bit further behind it’s 8th for Martinez
Behind, Mohoric has dropped the others and is set to take 5th place.
Now here comes Pidcock, about to seal 4th place.
These are probably career-best performances from both of these riders.
2nd place for Skujiņš, and 3rd place fo Van Gils.
Skujiņš rides away, and second-place is set to be his.
It looked like Skujiņš was going to lose the wheel, but now he’s passed Van Gils.
Now the race for 2nd, with Van Gils and Skujiņš on the final climb.
He pulled out a celebration worthy of the ride, lifting his bike up in the air after crossing the finish line.
Not that that has been in doubt for the last few hours – the only question is how big will his victory be.
Tadej Pogačar official wins the 2024 Strade Bianche!
Now comes a wave, as he reaches the top of the climb.
He’s not holding back – no waves to the crowd, although he is smiling broadly.
1KM TO GO
Here comes Pogačar onto the Via Santa Catarina climb!
Meanwhile things are looking better for Pidcock, who’s lead over the chasers is back up to 30 seconds. Fourth-place might be his.
Pogačar now allowing himself a celebratory fist pump to the camera as the TV moto rides up alongside him. You sense he’s going to enjoy soaking up the atmosphere at Piazza del Campo any minute now.
Not long now until Pogačar starts climbing to the iconic finish at Piazza del Campo
Pidcock is now within sight of the chasing sextet of Cosnefroy, Mohoric, Formolo, Healy, Kamna and Martinez.
A rare sight – Pogačar appears to be grimacing. He’s certainly not let up the pace, despite his huge advantage. This feels like a statement ride, ahead of what is a very ambitious season with the Giro/Tour double on the radar as well as other classics.
The riders are having to negotiate some wet roads as they descend towards the finish in Siena, residue from the earlier rainfall.
The only question left regarding the podium finishes is which of Skujiņš and Van Gils will finish second and which will finish third.
10KM TO GO
Just 10km to go now for Pogačar. He could probably have five consecutive punctures and still win, such is his lead.
Skujiņš is leading Van Gils on Le Tolfe. Van Gils doesn’t look comfortable, but he’s not being dropped.
Behind, Van Gils and Skujiņš look very unlikely to be caught with 2-20 over…
This article was originally published by a www.cyclingnews.com . Read the Original article here. .