For many riders, teams, and cycling aficionados, Strade Bianche is more than just another race on the calendar. It feels like a festive occasion – joyous, full of anticipation, and rich with sentiment. Despite its relatively short history, it has quickly become a cherished tradition, introduced for women in 2015, while the men’s race dates back to 2007.

In saying this, the fickle nature of bike racing means that celebrations are never guaranteed. Unfortunately, that was the case for CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto at the 2025 edition, despite a deep and passionate connection to the race.

Every team leaves Strade Bianche with its own story and for CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto, it was a race of relentless misfortune – one crash, then another. A third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth. Bike swaps between teammates, mechanical issues, and untimely punctures only added to the mayhem. The best placed rider was Alice Towers who reached the iconic Piazza del Campo finish in 38th position, over 14 minutes down after two crashes and numerous hold-ups.

For Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, who placed sixth in the inaugural edition and had finished in the top 10 nine times out of ten, it was her second crash that proved to be instantly race-ending. Thankfully, after being taken to hospital for medical evaluation, she was cleared of major injury and is expected to be back on a start line in the near future. 

“I don’t feel like I’m disappointed anymore, but it’s just more like a heartbreak – coming back here again and getting kicked about in a different way. I’m not sure if I’m more upset about the fact that, again, I was not able to show what I actually represent right now.”

“You know, as an athlete, when you train for so long and spend a lot of time preparing for certain goals, chasing little details just so you can improve, and then you feel like this is it – like you’re in shape, you have good legs – and then you crash out of the race, it just feels like something has been taken away from you. Sometimes, it’s hard to digest that over not being able to compete in the final because the legs aren’t there.”

“So yeah, definitely, being in the ambulance and not feeling great, plus knowing that the chance was just taken away from me, felt very upsetting.”

“I feel like now I’m just focusing on quickly getting back to fully healthy, to training, and then being able to race as soon as possible. So we can maybe pull something else than just, like, crashing out from the race.”

There are no excuses when it’s simply the reality of what can happen in such an unpredictable and chaotic race, but that’s also what makes Strade Bianche so alluring. Sometimes, it’s not about having good luck – it’s about having the least bad luck possible, because what are the chances of an entirely straightforward Strade Bianche?

The countdown is already on for the 2026 edition, where there will be a little extra unfinished business for Kasia and the team to settle.