Who are the riders to watch at the 2026 Strade Bianche?

Gianmarco Garofoli really proved himself last year. He rode both the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España and was riding at a very high level in both of them, contending for stage wins. Unfortunately, illness forced him out of the Vuelta, but he bounced back with a top ten in the brutally tough European Championships road race, where only 17 riders finished.

That marks a new level for him. The combination of those Grand Tours has given him a much bigger engine, which should suit a demanding race like Strade Bianche. Another top ten is a solid target.

Emiel Verstrynge also raced Strade Bianche last year, but that edition ended badly when he broke his collarbone. It will be fascinating to see how he bounces back in this year’s race. After his crash last spring, he returned remarkably quickly and still managed to finish 14th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. 

Not long after, he impressed again during his first Tour de France. A first Grand Tour often gives a rider a noticeable boost in endurance and resilience, which can be a real advantage in a brutal race like Strade Bianche.

Verstrynge is also a top level cyclocross rider, but this winter he wrapped up his season early after the Belgian Championships and skipped the Worlds to focus fully on his road campaign. That is a huge decision for someone who clearly loves cyclocross as much as he does. 

For context, at the GP Sven Nys in Baal he finished second behind Mathieu van der Poel and ahead of Thibau Nys. It is fair to say he sacrificed a realistic chance at a Worlds podium in exchange for a stronger build up toward the road season. That makes his first race of the year even more intriguing, as we get our first real look at how this new approach translates on the roads.

Tobias Halland Johannessen is another talented rider who has already had to deal with an incredible amount of bad luck. For Johannessen, that has mostly meant knee injuries. 

After winning the prestigious 2021 Tour de l’Avenir, he turned pro in 2022 and immediately impressed: a podium at Étoile de Bessèges, seventh at Volta a Catalunya, fourth at the Tour of Norway, tenth at the Critérium du Dauphiné, and fourth at the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge. Then trouble struck. He even doubted whether he would be able to continue his career, as he could not ride for longer than a minute and a half.

Fortunately, he could continue, but with his sensitive knee he has rarely been able to arrive at Strade Bianche or the Ardennes in top form.

Last year, however, he finally showed his full potential with sixth place in the Tour de France. This season he opened with fifth on the familiar Jebel Hafeet and sixth on the new Jebel Mebrah. Because of a mediocre time trial, he “only” finished ninth overall. 

As one of the few top riders who shares everything on Strava, we can see he has kept the mileage high after the UAE Tour. Hopefully, for the first time in his career, he can bring that top form into the spring, starting with Strade Bianche on Saturday.

Alan Hatherly only started riding properly on the road last year with Team Jayco AlUla, combining it with mountain biking. In the latter discipline, he is a two time world champion and an Olympic medallist. 

Last year, he rode a small road programme and immediately picked up two podiums at the AlUla Tour. On one stage he was only beaten by Tom Pidcock, also a mountain bike world champion. In his other races, Hatherly mainly had the chance to gain experience.

This year, he will focus more on the road and less on mountain biking. His technical skills should be a real asset at Strade Bianche. Last year, he unfortunately could not show that after bad luck took him out of the race. Let’s see how far he can go this time.

Albert Withen Philipsen is another former cyclocross rider who could do very well here. In 2023 he became junior world champion as a first year junior, which is truly exceptional, because being a year younger at that age is a major disadvantage. In his second year he was again in the mix for the world title, until a nasty crash took him out of the race.

Last year he already raced Strade Bianche. Despite spending a lot of energy early on and suffering a puncture at the worst possible moment, he still finished an impressive 25th. Later in the season he stepped up even more, with a 6th place at Eschborn Frankfurt, 3rd overall in the Tour de Hongrie, 2nd behind Pogacar in Tre Valli Varesine, and 3rd at Paris Tours. Those are standout results, so with another winter of training in his legs, he could be a real factor here.