After courageous rides from our men’s and women’s squads, Ben came in fourth and Noemi finished ninth in the historic heart of Siena. Huge crowds cheered them all the way up the Santa Caterina climb and onto the Piazza del Campo to show their respect for the huge effort that our riders made out on the strade bianche.

Our squads didn’t escape bad luck and mishaps on the Tuscan gravel — men’s captain Richard Carapaz punctured at a bad moment and couldn’t make it back to the front of the race, while our women’s co-leader Cédrine Kerbaol went down in a fall, as did Archie Ryan. (Don’t worry; both were able to get back on their bikes. Cédrine rode on to the finish. Archie stopped midway, but escaped with some road rash and bruises and won't be kept out of action.) Unfazed, our riders adjusted their game plan on the fly and went all in to back Noemi and Ben.

In the women’s race, Letizia Borghesi and Noemi made a powerful late-race selection and then Noemi hung tough over the final climbs, clawing her way back to the first chasing group again and again, before grinding up Santa Caterina into Siena to finish ninth.

Michael Valgren and Ben flew down the white gravel when the men’s peloton was exploding all around them and then worked together in the front group to keep their advantage and mark attacks. They chased hard to keep the winning move in check, setting Ben up to escape solo in the final kilometers and climb up to Siena in fourth. Michael Valgren rolled onto the Piazza del Campo shortly after Ben and gave him a big hug. He had finished eighth himself.

Three top tens in one of the hardest, most beautiful races of the year is a good haul, even if we were dreaming of victory. We’re proud of the way our whole team rode at Strade Bianche. Ben, Noemi, Michael and all of their teammates set the tone for the rest of the spring classics.

Great things will happen if we keep racing like this.

It really was a hard day. Even the neutral was incredibly fast. I knew what my job was. Every year at this race, from the start, it’s on so it’s important to be on the front so my job was to drop them off as far into the race as you can and stay on the front. I think we did that really well. At one point we had five of us on the front. I think that was sector three and I thought, “Ok, my job is done now! Good luck, girls!” But in a race like Strade, in any moment, where you are is where you are so I think that was pretty good. I’m definitely already seeing improvement on how we were riding together. If you’re a new team with new riders, you have to get to know each other and it’s coming along pretty quickly now. There’s already such an improvement compared to the Mallorca races. I’m really happy that Noemi made it into the top ten. That makes me really proud. So it was pretty fun!

It started very well. We were always together with the team. Collectively, it was very good also. Always in position. Two riders crashed in front of me on a gravel sector. When it’s like that, you just brake instinctively but the thing is if you brake, you crash. So I crashed. I was on my way to coming back but that was the end of my day unfortunately.

Strade is absolutely mental. The race was just insane. It was really, really crazy. As soon as the flag dropped, it was really hectic. I got stuck behind a crash at one point and then I was in the convoy and I just couldn’t see anything. I was blind. I was just looking at the map on my Wahoo to see if I needed to go around a bend or something. It was insane. But I covered a few moves and tried to help the squad as much as I could. I think we had a good race in the end. It was just really unfortunate that Cédrine crashed. It’s hard to come back but she had a strong ride and kept racing. Unfortunately, she never made it back but I think Letizia and Noemi really cracked on and had a pretty good result. I think a top ten is awesome.

It was a crazy race. Super, super tough. From the beginning, from kilometer zero it was full on. Super hectic, super chaotic. But honestly it was also a lot of fun. Luckily I could stay out of trouble so that’s always fun. We were unlucky losing Cédrine because of the crash so then we’re only with three riders left. Sarah fought really hard to keep Leti and me safe and to position us. Then it was just a race of hanging on and trying to make it as far as possible. I parked myself the second time up Le Tofle and that was really out of legs but I kept fighting until the end and we came back to the group who raced for third place so all of a sudden we were going for the podium again. That was kind of a crazy situation and I tried to get myself together again and give everything I had. It was enough for a top ten. I think I can be happy with that.

We didn't put a foot wrong all day. I avoided all the carnage. I think that's what this race comes down to a lot of the time, just being in the right position and creating your own luck.

To be honest, it wasn't really an attack when I got away. It was hard up there, but I just wanted to do well in the bike race. It came to that last climb and I started to press the pedals a bit harder, just trying to get up it and get to the finish line as fast as possible. I had managed to drop the other two guys. And then for sure, once you've got a gap, it is just head down and go.

The atmosphere was insane. The last gravel climb was just crazy, ears ringing, goosebumps, everything. It is an awesome race to do.

Today was a very crazy day. First, I had a minor crash. I got a bit of road rash, but that’s it, so nothing serious. But then I punctured. I pierced my tire at a very, very bad time. The cars were far behind. That’s where the race left without me.

I changed my bike, knowing that the main men were far away: three or four minutes. I finished the race, knowing I could never bridge across. I had prepared for this with a lot of determination but also a lot of feelings. I have always loved this race.

Almost every year I’ve been on the start list, I’ve not had luck on my side, but out of respect to the race and also my teammates, who had put their trust in me to make a good race, I decided to finish it.

Now, we are thinking about Tirreno-Adriatico. I feel good, motivated. I have prepared well for it. That is the next one we are going for and we have a good chance.

I am really happy. I saw that the legs were really good last week in Kuurne, so I knew I was in good form. I think I did a good job helping the team and then I managed somehow to stay in front. It was a good day out.

We wanted to hit Santa Maria first, and we did. Ben went on Pogi’s wheel and then Pidock and Tadej got away. I got back to Ben's group, and we talked a bit, and he was strong, obviously. He was stronger than me. I could see that, so I said to him, ‘I want to launch you at some point’. And it happened, but Ben just launched himself. I was sitting maybe fifth or fourth wheel and Ben attacked and I just let the wheel go. There was a small little hesitation in our group and he was gone. That was one of the perks of being there with two.

On a personal level, it is super nice and good for the confidence. I think we can be happy with how we raced. In Kuurne, I felt really, really, strong. Omloop, not so great, but again, I knew I was in good form. I am just building on the confidence and hopefully when we get to the Belgian classics again, I will have good legs and either be in the front or help some of the other guys. It is nice to be up there.