July 10, 2023
The Ineos Grenadiers rider has impressed with his performances so far in the Tour and even he is coming around to the idea of targeting the general classification, something his team is in dire need of
Tom Pidcock is a pure bike racer. He knows it and we’ve all seen it. The 23-year-old likes to attack and try to win – he rarely even bothers going to a one-day race where he doesn’t at least have a chance at victory. This aggressive style works in many cases (think his Strade Bianche win at the start of the season, for example), but it doesn’t quite align with the requirements of riders who want to win three-week-long races such as the Tour de France. In a Grand Tour, patience and timing are key. It’s a waiting game. Wild attacks or rash decisions can be heavily punished as the race goes on.
So does Pidcock’s racing instinct really align with a shot at the yellow jersey in the Tour de France? Can he forgo the feeling of throwing his arms up in the air after stage wins to play the long game?
It appears that this year’s Tour de France is going to be the first real test for the British rider. He currently sits seventh on the general classification after moving up two places yesterday when he managed to finish less than one minute behind Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard atop the iconic Puy de Dôme climb on stage nine. Speaking to press afterwards, Pidcock was still sure that stage victories were his main motivation, but seemed a little more open to riding with the aim of a high placing overall. It appears he does not plan to purposefully lose time in order to be given the leeway to go for a stage victory, nor make attacks that could impact his standing in the overall fight for yellow.
On the first rest day of this year’s Tour, a day after his impressive performance on the Puy de Dôme, the Brit once again reiterated his keenness to try and finish with a top-10 on the general classification when the race rolls into Paris.
“My goal is to be consistent. In my head it is becoming more of a challenge and a target to see where I can go on GC because I’m enjoying it, actually,” he explained. “If that means that I don’t get a stage win, then maybe that’s the case. But I think I can learn a lot about myself if I fully commit to GC now.”
Pidcock’s openness to try and get a solid…