No new victory for Mathieu van der Poel (consecrated in 2021) or Julian Alaphilippe (winner in 2019), the two favorites of the day, who did not have the legs to join the fight.
And it is for the first time a Briton who puts his name on the list of winners of the demanding and exciting Tuscan race of 184 kilometers.
The rider from the Ineos-Grenadier formation, presented as a future tenor of cycling monuments, gave a first push 50 kilometers from the line to get out of the peloton and join two breakaway riders.
Then he took off alone to victory 23 km from the goal, taking advantage of a new section of dirt, dropping the Italian Alessandro De Marchi with disconcerting ease.
"It will take a little time to realize this victory, it's quite incredible", reacted hotly the runner from Leeds, who had struck a blow during his first Tour de France, last year, by becoming the youngest winner in the history of the Tour de France in Alpe d'Huez.
"When I went it wasn't the plan but I pulled a gap and went. Honestly this week I had a good feeling and I felt like it could be my day,” he added.
Five runners however tried until the end to spoil the beautiful afternoon of the 23-year-old Briton, even returning to only fifteen seconds six kilometers from the goal despite a not always optimal agreement.
But they had to give up on the climb to Siena, faced with Pidcock's flawless pedal stroke, and Madouas was the strongest to get a good second place, 20 seconds behind the winner.
Valentin Madouas, second of the Strade Bianche, in Siena, Italy, March 4, 2023 © Marco BERTORELLO / AFP
The Frenchman from Groupama-FDJ, third last year in the Tour of Flanders, was two seconds ahead of the Belgian Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma), winner in 2018.
French cycling can also rejoice in the fine eighth place of Romain Grégoire, teammate of Madouas, in a race where Julian Alaphilippe like Mathieu van der Poel quickly had to lower the flag, obviously not on their best day as soon as the asphalt left the make way for the dreaded dirt tracks.
© 2023 AFP