He may have missed out on the stage win in Belfort, but Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) rocketed himself up the general classification and into fourth with his breakaway ride on stage 13 of the Tour de France.
He finished the stage in third, 7:30 ahead of the peloton to make huge gains in the overall race – he now sits just 4:15 down on the race lead, which is only nine seconds off the virtual podium.
Starting the day 10th on GC, Pidcock wasn’t expected to be allowed up the road on the breakaway-friendly stage, the longest of the race, but managed to sneak into the large 30-plus-rider group that got away early in the day and also included his teammates Fred Wright, Xandro Meurisse and Quinten Hermans in a big team effort.
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The large break then managed to build a gap of over eight minutes, with Pidcock climbing the virtual rankings, despite a somewhat futile chase from Bahrain Victorious to try to protect Lenny Martinez’s ninth place overall.
In the end, it was much more than just Martinez and Bahrain who needed to worry, with Pidcock ultimately leapfrogging not just the Frenchman but the riders between eighth and third, to move up to fourth overall.
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Despite what looked like a calculated team effort, Pidcock explained that even getting in the break wasn’t as deliberate as it looked.
“We thought always from the start that we’d try to get in the break if we can, stay near the front, do the minimum. It was always going to be hard riding in the peloton at that speed anyway, so we just tried to stay a bit nearer the front,” he explained.
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“From doing that, there was a split, 40 of us were in the front, 40 guys with four of us, it was the perfect situation and from there we just rode. Everyone was collaborating and it was so fast in the first part of the race, unbelievable. The guys did an amazing job.”
Aggressive on the Ballon d’Alsace climb and part of the elite, 10-man selection that formed over the top, Pidcock was in a good position for the stage win going into the final run-in, but ultimately missed the winning move when Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) attacked, the former winning the stage.
Despite their efforts to chase and coming close in the final straight, Pidcock had to settle for third after an impressive sprint, not the stage win he would have wanted, but his time gain of over seven minutes proved a hefty GC reward, which tempered any frustration about missing out on the stage.
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“I was thinking a lot about the stage, but the climb was not difficult enough to make the difference, and then we came to the finish with some guys and it was really difficult to control there by myself,” he said.
“Third is frustrating but it was also very positive day so we take everything from that.”
‘He’s an impact rider’
“Tom is such a fighter and he’s really turned this race upside down and made it really exciting again, which is what I love about him – he’s such an impact guy and an impact rider,” Pinarello-Q36.5 team manager Doug Ryder told TNT Sports at the finish.
“For him to do what he did today, and our whole team giving full support, is pretty cool.”
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe got involved in the chase in the finale to try to limit the gap, which ultimately proved important, with Remco Evenepoel holding Pidcock off of his podium spot by just nine seconds.
The Brit pushed Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) out of fourth, and now sits at 4:15 down on race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Pidcock in the break on stage 13 (Image credit: Getty Images)
The Brit and his team were hesitant to lay out any lofty goals for the Tour in the run-up to the race, with Pidcock insisting he just wanted to learn to enjoy the race rather than pressure himself to repeat the third place he achieved at the Vuelta a España last year.
However, as the race has progressed, it’s become increasingly clear that the team has an eye on both a good overall finish and a stage win – and though they missed out on the latter on Friday, it really cemented Pidcock’s chances of achieving the former.
How far can Pidcock’s GC bid go?
The question now will be how far the 26-year-old can go in this race, and he was pragmatic about what he can from here, particularly with a challenging TT coming up on stage 16.
“Fourth, yeah, it would be nice to say ‘Yeah, we can defend that’ but for sure in the time trial I will lose some minutes and I’ll feel my legs tomorrow, that’s for sure,” he said.
Ryder, as overjoyed as he was, was also clear that the team are still not putting too much expectation on his shoulders.
“Tom, as we know, is a racer and he loves to race, and he’ll take it day by day,” he told TNT Sports. “We’ve got a hard two days left, this is a tough three-day block before the rest day and an incredibly hard week. I mean you can lose 10 minutes on the last stage in Paris. So there’s lots of opportunities for him to still do something significant but I think we’ll just take it day by day.
“But today was amazing. I love the way Tom races and I love the way our team raced today, it was brilliant.”
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