The men's Strade Bianche threw up emotional stories from the front of the peloton to the rear, with the pain of crashes, the joy of victory and the pain of defeat on show.
Whether you were Tadej Pogačar, soloing home with another dominant win, one of the final finishers 25 minutes later, or one of the 76 who didn't make it to Siena, there was a tale to tell.
For XDS-Astana duo Alberto Bettiol and Cristian Scaroni, this year's Strade Bianche was a story of solidarity and friendship, coming to light in a photograph shot by Jered Gruber.
The in-form Scaroni, who led the 2025 UCI points rankings heading into the race, was leading the Kazakhstani team's charge on the gravel roads with Italian champion Bettiol among those backing him up. But the challenge came to an abrupt end towards the end of the race's fifth gravel sector, the 12km ride to Lucignano d'Asso, around 85km into the day. There, Scaroni hit the deck, suffering what later turned out to be a shoulder contusion.
Bettiol was the first on the scene, ending his race to quickly tend to his injured teammate. Gruber revealed on Instagram how he captured the moving gesture of supoort (scroll to the bottom of the page for the Gruber photos and caption – Ed.)
Bettiol recalled the story of the photograph to Cyclingnews at Tirreno-Ariatico on Monday.
"I helped Cristian without thinking, just as a first reaction because I saw him and I saw the speed – we were going really, really fast. Jared mentioned in the post, that it was really fast, and I saw the dust of the big braking. So, for me it was normal," Bettiol told Cyclingnews.
"In the end, we are human, no? Cycling is probably one of the most human sports in the world.
"We spend so many days together... I've seen Cristian probably more than my girlfriend this year. So we are like a family, not real family,but we spend a lot of time together. He would do the same if this happened to me or any other teammate."
Bettiol had worked for Scaroni on the Torrenieri sector of gravel after 70km of the race but had just been dropped and so saw him crash.
"I saw the dust of Cristian's crash and then I saw him lying down next to a tree. My teammates were in front," he revealed.
Bettiol said that he thought Scaroni had lost consciousness in the fall. His first reaction was to stop as soon as possible and check on his teammate, at that time not knowing where in the convoy the race doctor could be.
"I saw him really, really bad and I thought he wasn't conscious, so I had to brake, put my bike down and run back to him," he recalled.
"Jared took the photo while I was removing Scaroni's helmet from because when I crash the first thing I want do is breathe easily. I pulled down the zip of his jersey and asked if he could hear me.
"He said yes, he was just in big pain in his shoulder. I advised the team car that Cristian had crashed, probably fractured his collarbone."
Bettiol said that his move to end his own race to help his teammate was "something instinctive" and something he'd always do in that situation.
He noted that the rest of the team – which he likened to a family – would do the same, no matter their hierarchy in the squad.
"We are a team, so we had a captain. Cristian showed that he was a leader this year. I'm sure that my teammates would do the same to me if it happened," Bettiol said.
