'It's pure cycling': Romain Bardet and Wout van Aert flourish on Strade Bianche debuts

The debutants finished second and third respectively in an attacking display at Strade Bianche 2018

Romain Bardet (left) and Wout Van Aert (right) in the break at Strade Bianche 2018 (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

It was love at first sight for Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Wout van Aert (Veranda's Willems-Crelan), second and third in Strade Bianche on Saturday in Siena, Italy.

The duo shaped the 184-kilometre race with an attack over the Sante Marie gravel sector at 45 kilometres to race. It seemed as though they – one a Tour de France podium placer and one a three-time cyclocross champion – were going to succeed in their debut on Tuscany's gravel roads.

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