The 184-kilometre men’s race saw a select group battle for victory at the end of the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour event.

Last year’s winner Wout Van Aert of Belgium was surprisingly distanced in the final 25 kilometres after an acceleration by world champion Julian Alaphilippe.

The French star was among the main contenders featuring in the closing kilometres and responded to an attack by Van der Poel on the final dirt section of the course.

Van der Poel, who has already won the cyclo-cross world title this year, powered to victory in a time of 4 hours 40min 29sec.

Alaphilippe was left settling for second place with the world champion ending five seconds adrift.

Colombia’s Egan Bernal, the 2019 Tour de France champion, completed the top three at 20 seconds behind the winner.

Van Aert recovered in the closing stages to lead the chase group over the line at 51 seconds behind.

"This is an iconic race and I really wanted to win it," said Van der Poel.

"I think Strade Bianche is one of the most difficult races to win because there are so many good riders, including strong climbers like [Tadej} Pogacar and Bernal.

"It does not happen often to find so many champions, including general classification riders, fighting for the victory of a one-day race.

"Today I rode with confidence, I felt pretty good, and tried to save some energy for the finale and wait for the right moment."

The 136km women’s race saw Van den Broek-Blaak triumph after an attack on the final climb of the race, known as Le Tolfe.

Two-time defending champion Annemiek Van Vleuten and Marianne Vos had looked set to battle for victory after breaking clear from a small group on the final gravel section.

The Dutch duo were reigned in with eight kilometres to go by a group containing Van den Broek-Blaak, Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini and reigning world champion Anna van der Breggen.

Van den Broek-Blaak and Longo Borghini attacked two kilometres later, with the duo going head-to-head to the finish.

The former would emerge as the winner, with Van den Broek-Blaak crossing the line in 3:54:40.

Longo Borghini ended seven seconds adrift to finish as the runner-up, while Van den Broek-Blaak’s SD Worx team-mate Van der Breggen finished a further two seconds down to complete the podium.

The build-up to the race had seen a crowd funding campaign arranged to raise the prize money of the race to a comparable level to the men's event, amid an ongoing debate over equality in the sport.

The UCI WorldTour season will continue tomorrow with the start of the eight-stage Paris-Nice.

Racing is due to begin with a 166km stage in Saint-Cyr-l'École.

Slovenia’s Primož Roglič and Giro d’Italia champion Tao Geoghegan Hart of Britain are among the starters at the race, alongside defending champion Max Schachmann of Germany.

Last year’s Paris-Nice was reduced to seven stages amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the event proving the final race before the suspension of the UCI WorldTour season.