The unofficial sixth Monument, one of the most beautiful and elegant races in the cycling calendar – and my second favourite race of the year. Yes, it was Strade Bianche, and edition 13 went mano a mano … a mano with Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) going under the flamme rouge together on that magnificent final climb into Siena’s main square. While the men had to duke it out on the final kilometre, Annamiek Van Vleuten (Michelton Scott) time trialled her way to a solo victory in the women’s edition of the race. A fantastic achievement considering that she is coming off a broken kneecap from last year!
