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Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team ready for the Strade Bianche

Strade Bianche, the white roads of Tuscany lined with cypress trees, are the backdrop of this rather young but already classic race. Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team lines up for the third year in a row but this time we do so with a former winner.

7 March 2025.

In 2023 Tom Pidcock wowed the world by keeping a chasing peloton at bay to win in Siena. This year he returns and is joined by Gianluca Brambilla, for his tenth participation, Milan Vader, Mark Donovan and three debutants: Fabio Christen, Xabier Mikel Azparren and Nick Zukowsky.

Head of technical performance Kurt Bogaerts and the team did a long recon on Thursday to finetune the last details.
“This was the third time on the course this week which is important to get a good orientation and feel for the roads. You could already see how the course has changed with the dry gravel getting looser every day. There is also no rain predicted so these are the circumstances we will see on Saturday too.

"This was the third time on the course this week which is important to get a good orientation..."

Kurt Bogaerts

We used the recon on Thursday to check the final 100 kilometers of the new race route with that new sector. That is crucial. This is a race where every detail counts so we spent a lot of time on getting the right tyre pressure, the right Vittoria tyres, the right Zipp wheels, whether or not riders ride with inserts. There are many variables, and we need to get it just right. Our strength is that we have a very experienced and enthusiastic group of riders here. They all really want to ride this very special race and are very motivated to surround Tom to get the best performance.”

Fabio Christen is one of our three debutants. After a busy period with Omloop Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and Trofeo Laigueglia he can’t wait to line up for Strade Bianche.
“It was good to race Wednesday in Italy to get used to warmer weather, but I did feel opening weekend in the legs. Laigueglia was also good to get the short efforts done. I feel recovered now and can’t wait to do this iconic race. Strade Bianche is a race that everyone watches, it’s just so special. Inside the peloton it’s action everywhere and literally everything can happen.
I like racing on gravel. Paris-Tours last year was great and although I crashed in Jaèn it is a cool race. You need so many different skills on gravel and it’s unlike anything else. It’s so unpredictable. I hope to finish the race in a good place but the most important is that we can help Tom get in the best position to win this race again!”