After an encouraging but frustrating debut in last year's Strade Bianche (open in new tab), Quinn Simmons returned to the gravel roads of Tuscany on Saturday with only one thing in mind: victory. He made sure that was his goal at the start, and he pursued success with youthful ambition and solid team support from Trek-Segafredo. (opens in new tab)

Tadey Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) made victory impossible for the rest of the field in the final 50km solo run. Simmons finished seventh after being part of a quality chase group, but said he had no regrets about finishing in Siena.

"He is a two-time Tour de France champion. I wish I had his legs," Simmons said across the finish line.

"I couldn't have done anything differently except be stronger. At the end of the day, it can be disappointing, but I'm only 20 years old. It's an OK place to be considering how many years I can come back in."

Simmons had a chance to finish in the Monte Santo Marie Sector last year, but mechanical problems and a crash ended his hopes. On Saturday, Simmons escaped bad luck, only to watch Pogachar disappear onto the track in the same sector. It was a bold move, but he was never seen regrouping behind the Slovenian.

Simmons' Trek-Segafredo teammates continued the chase on the approach to the crucial final three short but steep sectors, cutting Pogachar's 90-second advantage by 15 seconds. In Sector 9, Toms Skujins forced the move and Simmons himself accelerated. Back on the pavement, he joined an elite group with Casper Asgreen (Quick Step Alfa Vinyl), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal), and Honatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers).

Simmons could not follow Asgreen's attack in the final sector, nor Valverde's attack in the final sector, and the pair took the remaining slot on the podium. Simmons' group grew to five by the last kilometer in the old town of Siena, and he dropped into the Piazza del Campo to take seventh place.

"I was in the right position when he [Pogachar] made his move. But when a rider like that goes into the climb, it's a little difficult for me, weighing 75 kg, to keep up," Simmons said.

"But you watched the team run all day. It was really great. We had a plan and we executed it perfectly. We had Eddie [Zaunce] in the early positioning, he has a lot of experience on this road, and then Toms and Dario [Cataldo] did a really good job in the final group. The team was perfect and my equipment was perfect. [It hurts a little bit to miss a good result because I have been thinking every day since last year about coming back here. But there are no excuses. But there are no excuses.

Simmons admitted that his aggressive presence at Strade Bianche could possibly be accused of being too much. But he has so far resisted calls for a more calculated or negative run.

"Maybe that's a drawback, and sometimes I get in trouble with the team.

"I'm not the kind of person who sits around. But at least I know I gave 100 percent to win. I talked to Toms with 40km to go and he asked me what I wanted." I replied, "I'm still going to do everything I can to win.