UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar clinches stunning win in season opener

UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar fired a warning shot to his rivals by storming to victory in the Strade Bianche with a solo attack 81 kilometres from the finish line in Siena, Italy.

Pogacar claimed a statement victory in his first race of the 2024 season in which he will attempt a Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double for the first time, with the Paris Olympics also on his mind.

Pogacar finished two minutes and 44 seconds ahead of Toms Skujins, bettering the previous record winning margin of 42 seconds set by Fabian Cancellara in 2012.

The 215km race is one of the jewels of the Classics season. It started and finished in Siena and included 15 gravel sections.

Two-time Tour winner Pogacar had said before the start that he would attack on the Monte Santa Maria and he did just that, charging from the pack and racing on his own for over two hours before winning the 215km race set in the Tuscan countryside.

"It was really tough conditions and there were no more resources left in the group so it was only 25 riders... There was a moment when you couldn't see anything and I decided to go on the attack," the Slovenian told Eurosport.