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  "description": "Bike racing is made of moments, and in the final kilometre of Strade Bianche, an entire race played out in less than three minutes.",
  "path": "/a-breakdown-of-everything-that-happened-in-the-final-kilometer-of-strade-bianche/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-07T21:01:08.000Z",
  "site": "https://escapecollective.com",
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    "Subscribe now"
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  "textContent": "Cor Vos\n\nLotte Kopecky versus Demi Vollering in 2023 was close. Kopecky against Annemiek van Vleuten in 2022 was close. But never, in the history of Strade Bianche, has the race been too close to call. The biggest group to come into the base of the Via Santa Caterina climb, before this Saturday, was in 2022, when a group of 12 rode under the flamme rouge together. Before that, in 2017, when on the rain-soaked roads, Lucinda Brand was caught with 1 km to go by a chasing group of five. On that occasion, it was Elisa Longo Borghini who took the win ahead of Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Lizzie Deignan, but by the time the riders reached 200 metres to go, there was daylight between each. It wasn't a sprint to the line. In 2022, as soon as the race hit Via Santa Caterina, that group of 12 blew to pieces.\n\nAfter everything that happened in Saturday's race, you'd think the final climb to Piazza del Campo would be the least exciting sector of the race. There were crashes. There were mega attacks. There was a Longo Borghini + Chabbey breakaway. There was a coming back together. There was a moment where some of the biggest names in the sport were led off course (seriously, that was wild), but even after all those things happened, the race came into the final kilometre with all still to play for.\n\nWas the win going to go to the passionate Italian champion, who hadn't been able to reclaim this particular victory since that fateful day in 2017? Would it go to the forever-bridesmaid Niewiadoma-Phinney, who had finished second on three separate occasions already? Would the young world champion Magdeleine Vallieres be able to win in the rainbow jersey, the first WorldTour victory of her career? Could it possibly be the veteran G.O.A.T. Marianne Vos, who has won so many races, but never Strade Bianche? What about Puck Pieterse, mountain bike legend turned road phenom? Or perhaps the dedicated domestique, who finally had her chance to shine?\n\nThe victory would eventually go to that domestique: Elise Chabbey. Chabbey, who spent the last five years of her career in service to, first, Niewiadoma-Phinney on Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, and now to Demi Vollering on FDJ United-Suez. Chabbey, who had already been on the attack earlier in the race and by all accounts should have been out of bullets. Who has only won one WorldTour race before - the Tour of Romandie in 2025. Never a one-day race. She's been there or thereabouts since 2021, when she signed for Canyon-SRAM, and over the years, she's built a loyal fan base because of how she races, always with one foot ahead, most of the time to her detriment.\n\nThe truth is: there would have been joy had any one of the riders who rode into the final kilometre today won. It was a win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win situation. But in bike racing, only one person can stand on the top step, and at Strade Bianche on Saturday, it was the strongest rider in the race.\n\nWhen she crossed the line, Chabbey could barely believe what had just happened, and she can be forgiven for that, because the final kilometre had enough action for an entire bike race.\n\n## 1 km to go: Franzi on the front\n\nFDJ United-Suez have spent the time and money to build up a super team to support Vollering. In the process, they've acquired riders who have blossomed under the positive atmosphere surrounding the French team.\n\nOne of their newest signings, Franziska Koch, came into this season on fire. Already in the Omloop Nieuwsblad, she proved she was worth her weight in gold, with an effort that handed Vollering the opportunity to win. Again at Strade, she was proving just how incredible a rider she is. With Vollering out of contention, it was on Koch and Chabbey to deliver for FDJ United-Suez. Whether they planned for Koch to put in the work going into the final kilometre for Chabbey, or she just knew that letting up the pace was a bad idea, her efforts at the front when the group started to stall kept attacks from taking anyone by surprise.\n\n0:00\n\n/0:06\n\n1×\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "A breakdown of everything that happened in the final kilometre of Strade Bianche",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-09T09:46:57.716Z"
}