Double winner of the Tour de France, Pogacar pushed back his next, the Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (41), about forty seconds in the heart of the medieval city of Siena.

The Dane Kasper Asgreen took third place at the end of the 184 kilometers of this recently created race (2007) but very popular in the peloton.

Pogacar was caught in a maxi-fall which affected part of the peloton about a hundred kilometers from the finish.

But he was able to continue the race just like the world champion Julian Alaphilippe, author of a spectacular cabriole.

Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (2nd g) gets up after being caught in a collective fall with, in particular, Julian Alaphilippe, during the Strade Blanche, on March 5, 2022, a loop around Siena Marco BERTORELLO AFP

Unafraid of the distance to the finish, the Slovenian went on the attack in a long gravel sector to secure an advantage of almost a minute and a half over the peloton, with Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez intercalated.

Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, winner of the Strade Bianche, during his solo breakaway of more than 50 km, on March 5, 2022 around Siena Marco BERTORELLO AFP

If he lost around thirty seconds on his first pursuers before the last 20 kilometers, he then managed the gap both on the stony sectors and on the bitumen.

He even offered himself the luxury of clapping in the hand of one of his supporters at the foot of the final ramp.

The raid of the UAE team

"It's incredible!", Put the outgoing winner of the Tour into perspective in relation to his superiority.

"I was always looking behind where the others were, it was really very intense".

Asked about his long attack, he explained: "I tried to give my all and no one could follow. So I kept going..."

Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, winner of the Strade Bianche, during his solo breakaway of more than 50 km, on March 5, 2022 around Siena Marco BERTORELLO AFP

"I find it hard to realize," he added.

"It's the first time I've done something like this. But in cycling, you never know how it's going to turn out."

In the absence of the two previous winners (Wout van Aert in 2020, Mathieu van der Poel in 2021), Pogacar achieved a number comparable to those of the Swiss Fabian Cancellara in the cobbled classics of the early 2010s, van der Poel and van Aert more recently.

Winner last year of two of the five "monuments" (Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour of Lombardy), he plans to run four of these great classics this season, the next being Milan-Sanremo on March 19.

At 23, the Slovenian won his 4th success of the year.

From his first race, he dominated the UAE Tour, with two stage victories in the two summit finishes, and therefore continued with the Strade Bianche, a race he was competing for the fourth time (30th in 2019, 13th in 2020, 7th in 2021).

The joy of Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, winner of the Strade Bianche, on March 5, 2022 in Siena Marco BERTORELLO AFP

Pogacar continued the raid of the UAE team which triumphed throughout the week.

After the Italian Matteo Trentin in the GP Samyn in Belgium, the Emirati team led by Matxin Fernandez scored a hat-trick in the Laigueglia Trophy, an Italian semi-classic, on Wednesday.

© 2022 AFP