Tadej Pogačar to make season debut in Strade Bianche title defence

Raring to go in his second full season as the reigning world champion, Tadej Pogačar will lead a fearsome UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad at the upcoming Strade Bianche. The Slovenian will head up a seven-man squad on the white roads of Tuscany on Saturday, 7 March.

There, the 27-year-old will look to claim the title for a fourth time, having won the race in 2022, 2024, and 2025. Between all-conquering, long-range attacks and bouncing back from a dramatic crash to win the race last season, Strade Bianche has become synonymous with feats of excellence from the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider.

As such, anticipation has been building for this race ever since Pogačar laid out his 2026 battle plans at the team’s winter training camp.

With the world champion eyeing up a record-making fourth success in Siena, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has put together a highly-capable squad that will be guided in the team car by Sports Directors, Andrej Hauptman and Manuele Mori.

Making his third appearance in as many years at Strade Bianche, Isaac del Toro will be back on Italian roads for the first time this season. Having taken the runner-up spot at the Giro d’Italia last year before romping to seven victories in eleven races in Italy to close out his 2025, the Mexican national champion will feel right at home in Tuscany.

Del Toro’s first outing of the season landed him two stage wins and the overall title at the UAE Tour in late February.

Alongside Pogačar and Del Toro at Strade Bianche will be an accomplished list of riders: Jan Christen, Felix Großschartner, Domen Novak, Florian Vermeersch and Kevin Vermaerke. Between them, the defending champion will have plenty of firepower to call on to make the race as selective as possible on Saturday afternoon.

It is a task that Pogačar is relishing.

Pogačar: “Strade is a race where I have unforgettable memories. My record there is pretty good and I hope that I will be in a good position again come Saturday. We expect there to be some strong rivals, the startlist is always at a high level for these big races and it should make things exciting for the fans.

“It is my first race of the season, and I hope to have a good start. I’ve been cheering on from the couch until now, so I’m excited to get stuck in myself again and finally race. The team has been on a good wave at the moment with many wins already and we hope to continue that over the next few races.”

At 202.7km in length, this year’s Strade Bianche route is moderately less difficult than in recent seasons. Gone are two sectors of gravel in La Plana and Serravalle, reducing the total number of kilometres on the white roads down from 80km to 64km. These will be spread across 14 sectors in total.

Amongst those remain some of the race’s most iconic tests, such as the Monte Sante Marie and S. Martino in Grania. The former has seen Pogačar make irrepressive attacks in the past, and falls with a little over 70km to ride.

Before the race draws to a conclusion with the Via Santa Caterina – and the fabled Piazza del Campo – there will be visits to the double-header of the Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe. These gravel sectors often separate the best from the nearly men at the end of a tough race.

With its gorgeous vistas, oftentimes immaculate weather, and winding gravel tracks, Strade Bianche has become a must-see event on the calendar. With Tadej Pogačar in tow for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, that billing becomes ever more fitting.

Meanwhile, earlier in the week, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will take an ambitious roster of riders to Albenga for the start of the Trofeo Laigueglia. Taking place on Wednesday, 4 March, the Italian one-day event will see the Emirati squad look to defend its title from 2025.

In fact, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has won this semi-Classic on two occasions, through Jan Polanc and Juan Ayuso in 2022 and 2025, respectively.

With podium places also attained by Ayuso and Alessandro Covi in the recent past, this is a race the team knows well.

So it is that Sports Directors Fabrizio Guidi and Marco Marzano head up a team full of potential protagonists, with the experience of Benoît Cosnefroy, Felix Großschartner, Kevin Vermaerke, and Domen Novak complemented by the youthful exuberance of Adrià Pericas and António Morgado.

Raced from Albenga to Laigueglia, the Trofeo Laigueglia is 192km long with a fraction under 3,000m of elevation gain. Much of that is thanks to a succession of climbs that fall in the final 100m, including the Cima Paravenna (7.2km at 5.5%), Colla Micheri (1.9km at 8.4%), and the Testico (7km at 4.6).

The Colla Micheri will be ridden on three occasions inside the final 40km, before a quick run to home after the Capo Nele with just metres remaining.

At the Trofeo Laigueglia, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will look to build on its strong start to the season, which sees the squad sit at the top of the UCI rankings and with 13 victories already to its name.