'I hope to have a good start' – Tadej Pogačar 'excited to get stuck in' on season debut at Strade Bianche this weekend

The world champion Tadej Pogačar is "excited to get stuck in" on his season debut at Strade Bianche in Italy this Saturday.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG confirmed their roster for the race on Monday evening, including Pogačar and the six riders that will ride alongside him: Isaac Del Toro, Jan Christen, Felix Großschartner, Domen Novak, Florian Vermeersch and Kevin Vermaerke.

The four-time Tour de France champion has won the previous two editions of the race – three in total – crashing into a ditch with 50km to go last year, before attacking to win with an almost minute-and-a-half gap to Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5).

“Strade is a race where I have unforgettable memories,” Pogačar said in quotes attributed to him on the UAE Team Emirates-XRG website.

“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.”

The last time Pogačar competed was when he won Il Lombardia last October, almost five months ago. It was his last of 20 victories in 2025, which also included a second Tour of Flanders, a third Liège-Bastogne-Liège, four Tour de France stage wins, and both the world and European road titles.

Among the other riders on the start list for Strade Bianche are previous winners Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Pidcock, last year’s runner-up. There is also growing excitement around 19-year-old Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), who is considered in his native France to be the heir to Pogačar’s throne.

This year’s Strade Bianche will be the 20th edition of the one-day race. It takes place in Tuscany, Italy, and counts 14 gravel sectors which cover 64km of the total 201km.

The men’s race will start in Siena at 11:40 local time, 10:40 UK time. It is expected to finish in the same city’s iconic Piazza del Campo around 16:30 local time, 15:30 UK time.