In a bizarre scene at Strade Bianche many of the pre-race favourites saw their victory hopes evaporate when a chasing group took a wrong turn and rode several hundred metres off the course down a gravel track.
The Tuscan one-day race is favourite for its white roads and gravel sectors, but this was one dusty track not on the route, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering among the chasing group which flew down the turn before abruptly turning around.
The incident appeared to be caused by a race motorbike going the wrong way down the track, instead of following the road around to the left, the riders following the motorbike and not realising the error until a long way down the farm track.
Wrong way! 😮
A chasing group including Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot went the wrong way as they were making gains on the leader! 😬 pic.twitter.com/PwFbI9h5V5
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) March 7, 2026
To make matters worse, the path back to the road was up a fairly steep climb meaning, by the time they were back on the course, the deficit to the race leaders had stretched from a little over a minute to close to three minutes, all but ending the group’s chances of regaining contact.
It was further misfortune for Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot who found themselves back in the chase group after mechanicals on an earlier gravel sector.
Perhaps the lead group would have stayed away anyway, but the chaotic route error all but ended any chance of victory for the riders involved.
It was an unfortunate incident in an otherwise thrilling edition of Strade Bianche, Elise Chabbey holding off Kasia Niewiadoma, Franziska Koch and Elisa Longo Borghini in a four-way finish in Siena’s Piazza del Campo.
INCREDIBLE! 🔥
Elise Chabbey wins the 2026 edition of Strade Bianche! 👏 pic.twitter.com/APTUQNhhE7
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) March 7, 2026
World champion Magdeleine Vallieres and Puck Pieterse had already been dropped by Longo Borghini’s acceleration on the iconic double-digit climb that concludes the race.
The Italian took the right turn atop the climb in first place, a feat which normally sees the rider claim victory due to the narrow and twisty final few hundred metres followed by the downhill drop to the line. However, Niewiadoma squeezed through on the next bend, only for Chabbey to come round from third to first and take the win.