Chase group rides off course at women's Strade Bianche

A group containing several big names at the women's Strade Bianche has taken a wrong turn and ended up off course, jeopardising their chances of rejoining the front of the race.

The chase group of 11 – including defending champ and pre-race favourite Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) – was roughly a minute behind the lead group of 13 with 35 km to go in Saturday's race when they followed a race moto down the right fork when the road split in two.

Several of the riders soon realised they were off the race route and turned around, heading back up the way they'd come before rejoining the course. No race staff or signage had been present at the split in the road.

Oh l'erreur de parcours du groupe Vollering sur les #StradeBianche !! 😮 pic.twitter.com/iF5XRQQBYi

— Josselin Riou (@josselin_riou) March 7, 2026

Vollering had lost contact with the front of the race after a mechanical on the Le Tolfe section of gravel, roughly 42 km from the finish. Another of the top favorites, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) also found herself in that chase group after also having a mechanical on Le Tolfe.