The two had broken away from the main bunch with around 78 km to go of the parcours, which began and ended in Siena.

Pogačar made his race-winning move on the final gravel section, about 19 kilometres from the finish. He crossed the line in a time of 5 hours, 13 minutes and 58 seconds.

He finished 1 minute and 24 seconds ahead of Pidcock, who also won the race in 2023. Tim Wellens of Belgium was 3rd and Ireland's Ben Healy just missed out on the podium places in 4th position.

Afterwards, Pogačar said that he had misjudged the corner on a descent and that such things happen sometimes, while clearly showing the scars of battle, with a cut on his forearm and a torn cycling jersey. In spite of that, he said that it was "not the best way to win a race but a win is a win and let's hope it's nothing worse than it looks and all should be fine".

He joins Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara as the most successful rider in the race's history, with three wins.

As is tradition, Pogačar will now have one of Strade Bianche's gravel sections named in his honour.

The women's race, the Strade Bianche Donne, fittingly held on International Women's Day, was won by Dutch rider Demi Vollering. It was her second title there in 3 years. She beat her compatriot Anna van der Breggen in sprint finish. France's Pauline Ferrand-Prevot was 3rd.