Wout van Aert won the first men's race on the restarted calendar this year ©Getty Images

Belgium's Wout van Aert and The Netherlands' Annemiek van Vleuten have won on the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Tour's return to competition at the Strade Bianche in Siena in Italy - the first road race back after a break forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both the men's and women's races were initially scheduled to take place on March 7, but were moved to August to restart the 2020 UCI road race season.

Van Aert topped the podium ahead of Italy's Davide Formolo and Germany's Maximilian Schachmann who were 30 and 32 seconds behind respectively.

With 15 kilometres to go, a group of five were still there with the top three as well as another Italian Alberto Bettiol and Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang.

Van Aert made an attack with 14km to go, with the chasing pack causing Fuglsang to be dropped with 9km to go.

The Dane went on to eventually finished fifth.

Bettiol's chase attempt caused him to lose out on the podium in the end, finishing 1 minute 31sec behind the Belgian.

Wout Van Aert on the podium with Davide Formolo and Maximilian Schachmann ©Getty Images
Wout Van Aert on the podium with Davide Formolo and Maximilian Schachmann ©Getty Images

Van Aert made a big push, but his lead came down to nine seconds at one stage, with it extending with 4km to go, while Formolo defeated the German champion in a sprint.

Speaking to CyclingNews, Van Aert said: "Today was one long day of suffering and nobody felt that great. 

"The heat was exhausting but I really focused on hydration and keeping cool and, in the end, I got something left.

"Maybe there was not really a guy that I had to be afraid of in the last uphill but I think the attack is always the best offence. 

"I knew from the previous edition that attacking is never a disadvantage here and I started attacking in a downhill and came with a little advantage on the steep part. 

"From there, it was a man-to-man fight and it worked."

Van Vleuten made it a second win in a row in the Strade Bianche Donne race early in the day, with the Dutchwoman defending her 2019 title.

She managed to crack Spaniard Mavi García in the final 500 metres, eventually winning by 22 seconds.

Annemiek van Vleuten defended her Strade Bianche Donne title ©Getty Images
Annemiek van Vleuten defended her Strade Bianche Donne title ©Getty Images

García made a breakaway from the pack on a lengthy solo run, but was caught by Van Vleuten with 6.5km to go.

Meanwhile, in third was the American Leah Thomas who recovered well to make the podium after a mechanical issue on the chase after García.

The chain slipped on her bike and when a spectator looked to help her restart when she changed the chain, her front wheel slipped and she hit the deck.

She was passed by Karol-Ann Canuel, but soon found herself back in the chasing pack, and despite her fall, moved away from her rivals to take the final spot on the podium.

The Netherlands' Anna van der Breggen, who won the race in 2018, was 12 seconds behind Thomas with Elisa Longo Borghini rounding off the top five as the first Italian home.

Speaking of her win to CyclingNews, Van Vleuten said: "I realise it can be the last race - you've got to take all that you can.

"You never know what will happen, so you have to keep winning and I hope to show my legs in the next race too - I hope all the WorldTour races will follow on from here."

Next up on the UCI calendar will be the Tour de Pologne for the men in Poland from August 5 to 9 and for the women, the GP de Plouay in France, due to take place on August 26.