The dust, drama, despair, and delight of Strade Bianche 2026 – Photo gallery

The pack rides during the 20th one-day classic 'Strade Bianche' (White Roads) men's cycling race between Siena and Siena in Tuscany on March 7, 2026. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP).

Strade Bianche, as Patrick Lefevere noted on Saturday, is a "photographer's dream", and the 2026 edition did not let us down.

Lefevere, the former Belgian team boss, was in fact complaining about the way the men's race has gone over the years, and he won't have been best pleased as Tadej Pogačar romped home from almost 80km out once again, collecting a record-breaking fourth title.

What the men's race lacked in suspense, the women's race more than made up for, with a rip-roaring day on the Tuscan gravel, made up of endless attacks, wrong turns, and a pulsating finale in Siena, where Elise Chabbey upset the bigger names for the biggest win of her career.

However the races play out, the photos from Strade Bianche are always special, and we've picked out some of the best for you to enjoy in all their full-width glory.

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We start with a classically beautiful shot of the rolling Tuscan landscape

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Strade Bianche is a race that demands repeated punches

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There was one man who looked like he was able to enjoy himself

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Strade Bianche can be a lonely experience out the back as well as off the front

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World champion Magdeleine Vallieres in the thick of the action on the gravel

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The white roads kick up clouds of that famous dust

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Else Chabbey and Dominika Wlodarczyk ride through the dust at the head of the women's race

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A peloton of riders on the gravel and a lone fan on the hilltop

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Strade Bianche can be a painful experience

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Aude Biannic rides on bloodied and bruised

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UAE Team Emirates-XRG took control of the men's race on the key gravel sectors

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And it wasn't long before Tadej Pogačar took flight

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Once he was off, he was never seen again, apart from by the masses of fans

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Elisa Longo Borghini lights it up on the sterrato

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A stunning sector gravel here and a ripper of a downhill

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Wheels are held aloft all along the course for those who puncture on the gravel

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The favourites in the women's race all to the fore here but mechanicals and wrong turns would flip the race upside down

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There were groups everywhere after the men's race exploded

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And attacks were flying throughout the women's race

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Wout van Aert plots a line through the hordes of fans

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Elise Chabbey was on the attack on the gravel from far out, and she'd go on to beat the bigger names into the Piazza del Campo

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The chopper whirs overhead

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There was plenty of support out there for Tadej Pogačar

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The presence of Pogačar's UAE teammates hampered the chase

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The stunning final climb of the Via Santa Caterina in Siena

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Pogačar and his protege Isaac del Toro in the Piazza del Campo

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War stories are exchanged

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Disappointments are digested

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Teammates turn fans for the podium ceremony

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And one man further enshrines his status in cycling legend