The women's Strade Bianche was almost manipulative, with Team SD Works' Demi Volering and Lotte Kopecky attacking separately from the favorites and joining forces to chase lone leader Kristen Faulkner (Team Jayco Alura). A crescendo developed.

But the drama did not end with the capture of Faulkner on Santa Caterina Avenue. Instead of crossing the finish line together with their hands raised, as Trek Segafredo's Elisa Longo Borghini and Gaia Lealini had done in the UAE Tour Women's, Volaring and Kopecký fought all the way to the finish for a prestigious victory that was even photographed.

There was some confusion immediately after the race as Vollering slightly outpaced his teammate, but that confusion quickly dissipated.

"I talked to Lotte, and she was really happy, and when we went into the tent to change, she said, 'Oh, you won. No hard feelings. I could tell she was really happy," Vollering said at the post-race press conference. [Lotte] always really goes for everything. She's a really amazing person and one of the best on the bike in the world. Looking back now, it's really great to win in this way, to win a sprint race with Lotte, and that it wasn't a gift," the Dutchwoman added.

About the last 450 meters, Vollering said she took Kopecký's hand and as they were about to cross the finish line together, the Belgian passed her.

"I thought, 'Is she leading out for me? ' It was doubly nice this time because in the end it was the team that won and we always say, 'If the team wins, it's a good thing,'" she said.

"I don't think there is good or bad in this way of doing things. If two riders decide to do the final together, I think that's fine. It was very exciting for the people watching and it shows that women's cycling is really about fighting all the way to the finish line."

The team tactics were perfectly executed right up to the finish.

"It was exactly as planned where Demi was going, and it was exactly as planned for me to bridge at Le Torfaix. And Faulkner got there in time," Kopecky said.

The Belgian said that unlike a few weeks earlier when Trek Segafredo's sporting director decided to let Longo Borghini beat Reallini, he had no orders from the car.

"There was one order to bring Volkner back. Once it became clear that she was no longer going to be able to compete, it was down to the two of us to try to win the race. We are still two pro riders and both want to win. I'm really happy that we were able to fight all the way to the finish," Kopecky said.

Anna van der Breggen, sport director of Team SD Walks (herself a former winner of Strade Bianche), acknowledged this and denied any possibility of a rift between the two.

"We didn't say anything and we didn't think they would end up together. They were very slow to catch Faulkner. The important thing was one and two, and the intense emotion after the finish was only the first reaction," van der Breggen explained.

This last comment referred to an incident in which Volering apparently shouted the Dutch word "kutwijf" (roughly translated as "bitch") at Kopecký immediately after the finish. Asked about this at a press conference, Vollering gave no answer:

"I don't remember. But if I had said that, it would have been in jest and I would have said, 'What did you do to me? ' Because emotions run high after a finish like this," she said.