{"id":1814464,"date":"2026-03-07T07:43:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T04:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1814464"},"modified":"2026-03-07T07:43:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T04:43:57","slug":"favorites-follow-motorbike-the-wrong-way-and-lose-strade-bianche-donne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1814464","title":{"rendered":"Favorites Follow Motorbike the Wrong Way and Lose Strade Bianche Donne"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sbdon.jpg”]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
Andrew Hood<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated March 7, 2026 11:49AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A costly wrong-way turn wiped out all hope for several top contenders at Strade Bianche Donne when a chasing group featuring Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky, and Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot rode off course during the decisive phase of the Italian\u00a0race.<\/p>\n

The drama unfolded with about 33km to go as a select chase group tried to close the gap to the leaders on Tuscany\u2019s gravel roads.<\/p>\n

The riders pedaled off the official route and rode several hundred meters before realizing the mistake, apparently following a race motorbike that turned onto a side gravel track.<\/p>\n

For Vollering, the mistake came on top of a difficult race that had already been disrupted by a puncture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a flat tire at the worst moment,\u201d she said. \u201cI thought, \u2018don\u2019t give up, I can still come back.\u2019 But then they sent us the wrong way. All the riders knew in that moment that we were never coming back. It was a pity for me, but I could hear on the radio that it was a big battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By the time they stopped and doubled back onto the correct road, their chances of rejoining the leaders were cooked.<\/p>\n

The gap hovered at just over a minute, but after the wrong turn, it ballooned to roughly three minutes.<\/p>\n

The group caught in the confusion included defending champion Vollering (FDJ-Suez), former world champions Kopecky and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), Tour de France Femmes champ Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal).<\/p>\n

No chance of recovery<\/h2>\n
\"Strade
There was no hope of coming back at Strade Bianche Donne. (Photo: Screenshot\/RTV)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several of the riders were already chasing after earlier setbacks on the brutal Le Tolfe sector with 42km to go at Strade Bianche.<\/p>\n

Vollering and Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot both suffered mechanical problems there, forcing them into a desperate chase of a front group of riders.<\/p>\n

Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot was also trying to recover after mechanical issues chasing in the cars\u00a0when the confusion unfolded.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI have no idea, I saw motos and people going to the right, so I also turned. We were quite far away. I didn\u2019t know if the front group also went through wrong way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my form was good and I was waiting for the final lap to make a move \u2014 next time!\u201d<\/p>\n

Kopecky said everyone in the group immediately knew things were not going as planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t realize it at first, but the gravel was in terrible condition, and I\u2019d never seen that stretch before. Then I thought, \u2018We\u2019re not in the right place.\u2019 But the motorbiker had gone that way in front of us,\u201d Kopecky told Sporza<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, I couldn\u2019t do anything to put Anna (van der Breggen) in position. I have no idea how far behind we were at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite it perhaps being a mistake of the lead motorcycle, rules require riders to know the course. Kopecky admitted the situation unfolded too fast for anyone to react, she told Sporza<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou follow, and if the whole group is confidently moving to the right, you don\u2019t just go to the left,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t realize it myself right away, and it didn\u2019t really matter to me anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riders who were already\u00a0clear up the road stayed on course and delivered a thrilling battle that went to the final corner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
Andrew Hood<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated March 7, 2026 11:49AM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/favorites-follow-motorbike-the-wrong-way-and-lose-strade-bianche-donne\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sbdon.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated March 7, 2026 11:49AM A costly wrong-way turn wiped out all hope for several top contenders at Strade Bianche Donne when a chasing group featuring Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky, and Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot rode off course during the decisive phase of the Italian\u00a0race. The drama unfolded with about 33km to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1814464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1814464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1814464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1814464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1814464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}