Published March 7, 2021 04:08AM
Gallery: A battle of the stars at the men's Strade Bianche
Gorgeous photos from another spectacular edition of Strade Bianche.
The favorites separated themselves with more than 50 kilometers to go, and Mathieu van der Poel showed who was strongest of the strong on the final sector of white road, to the tower of La Tolfe. An acceleration on the steep stones into Siena was the final straw for his two remaining companions, Julian Alaphilippe and Egan Bernal.
Once again, Strade Bianche showed why it’s one of the most popular and spectacular races on the calendar.
Photographers Kristof Ramon and Jered and Ashley Gruber were on hand to capture it all.
Living the Panda life. 
Narrow roads, steep climbs, and loose gravel stretched the peloton early. 
Tuscany in all its glory. 
A painful day for EF. 
The rain stayed away, making for a dusty day. 
Antonio Nibali on the lonely road to Siena. ©kramon 
Natnael Berhane in the dust. 
Tom Pidcock in the main bunch. ©kramon 
Defending champion Wout van Aert (BEL/Jumbo-Visma) riding a gravel sector. ©kramon 
The favorites separated themselves with more than 50km to go. 
Loïc Vliegen (BEL/Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert) on the white roads. (ITA/184km) ©kramon 
Brent Van Moer (BEL/Lotto Soudal) telling us how it ‘s going…. ©kramon 
Tadej Pogačar (SVN/UAE-Emirates) still hanging onto the lead group on the final gravel sector. ©kramon 
Michael Gogl is not a name most expected to see at the top of the results sheet. He did his Assos-Qhubeka team proud. ©kramon 
Van der Poel gained a bit of separation on the steep climb up to La Tolfe, the final gravel sector. 
Alaphilippe animated all day, but couldn’t quite match the acceleration at the end. 
Egan Bernal seems to have put a disappointing Tour de France behind him. 
Van der Poel’s acceleration on the climb into Siena was astounding. 
Full gas. 
Alaphilippe just didn’t quite have it. 
So close, yet so far. ©kramon 
Tom Pidcock, in only his fourth race in Ineos colors, showed what he’s going to be capable of, finishing in 5th. 
Van der Poel has wanted this one for a while. 
Congrats between champs. 
A painful day for Tour of Flanders winner Alberto Bettiol. 
Wout van Aert (BEL/Jumbo-Visma) up the final steep climb into Siena. ©kramon 
It was a hell of a day for Michael Gogl, who finished in 6th. ©kramon 
Van der Poel rode this adapted Aeroad CFR to victory at Strade Bianche. The bike was modified to include cable ports in the frame, which allowed for a different cockpit than the one that comes standard on the new model.
Canyon said in a statement: “Mathieu won today riding an adapted Aeroad CFR that was equipped with our CP00010 cockpit. This setup will continue to be raced by our teams while we investigate the incident with the CP00015 and CP00018 cockpits that emerged with Mathieu’s bike at Le Samyn on Tuesday.” ©kramon
Mathieu Van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix) finishing victoriously at the Piazza del Campo. ©kramon