The sun beats down on reddish stucco and brick around the edge of the Piazza del Campo. A crowd gathers in the middle of the square, as it has for various reasons over centuries. People lean out of their balconies overlooking the historic centre of Siena, revealing glittering Renaissance interiors within, a glimpse into another life.
This could be a scene from any point over the 800 years it has stood at the heart of the Tuscan city, but this Piazza, built as if it is a stage, an amphitheatre, is the host of the finish of Strade Bianche. It is fitting that the beautiful race ends in a gem like Siena.
Peering down on the square from the balcony, there are a few things that give 2026 and a modern bike race away: big screens, an electronic finish line gantry, a large tent hosting VIPs, and the pumping Euro-pop which is inescapable all afternoon. However, even the advertising banners are Tuscan red, with effort made to make the race fit in, the same colour as the restaurant awnings.
Inside the Piazza, away from the chaos of the white gravel roads, things are serene, until the riders themselves thunder in. You can hear the crowd on the Via Santa Caterina first, especially when Elisa Longo Borghini was in the ascendence at the end of the women's race. Then the gladiators emerge into their arena, and it becomes clear just how tough the race has been. Riders like Kasia Niewiadoma Phinney, second again, for a fourth time, collapse to the floor, both through physical and emotional exhaustion.
Tom Pidcock rolls in and composes himself before speaking to the media, others have faces caked in dust and grime, while a few more have bloodied wounds to show for their effort.
The women's and men's races end in remarkably different fashions. The former sees a four-way sprint all the way into Siena, with Elise Chabbey proving most adept at finding the right line to take into the final 300m. Niewiadoma is distanced, but Chabbey barely celebrates, unable to comprehend what has just happened, or just giving it all to the line. The roar of the crowd feels gladiatorial, although it has a slightly deflated edge, after Longo Borghini finished fourth.
Three hours later, ahead of schedule due to a race completed at blistering speed, Tadej Pogačar enters the Piazza del Campo alone. The Slovenian has time, a minute in fact, to sit up, to drink in all the vibes. He has been here before, his fourth title, the third in a row. The conqueror of the gravel, and well, everyone, unclipped, and took a bow after the finish line. It felt like an exhibition, juxtaposed against the thrilling conclusion to the women's race hours earlier.
What was more interesting was the reaction to Paul Seixas crossing the line, a minute after the winner. While there had been acclaim for Pogačar, there was louder applause for the young Frenchman, with the crowd warmly welcoming the next generation. While Pogačar remains unbeatable for now, especially on the white roads of Tuscany, there was a sense that the future is here, and it was welcomed.
Pogačar's dominance is impressive, and is not something we should get bored of, but the nature of the race changes when the final hour is filled with sarcastic comments over the gap narrowing, as opposed to the excitement of a grand denouement.
Strade Bianche remains, though, as a great spectacle, a race so good that it seems silly that the men's race is only 20 years old, and the women's race has only existed since 2016. In the medieval Piazza del Campo, it feels like an event that has existed forever.
As the shutters closed around the Piazza and the restaurants put out thier usual tables, the barriers being taken down, the only feeling left was wonder. Oh, and frustration that we have to wait 12 more months for the next thrilling edition.
