Britain’s Tom Pidcock voyage of discovery in the Tour de France has both netted the young Ineos Grenadiers rider the biggest victory of his career to date on L’Alpe d’Huez, as well as giving the team their second straight win on cycling’s most mythical climb.
Making his debut in the Tour de France, Pidcock‘s move also enormously consolidates Ineos Grenadiers‘ newly boosted strategy of fighting for Tour de France stage wins as well as the overall.
It marks Ineos Grenadiers’ first stage win in the Tour de France since Michal Kwiatkowski and Richard Carapaz crossed the line together at La Roche-sur-Feron in the 2020 race.
But if their joint success in 2020, also in the Alps, as it happens, effectively acted as a consolation prize for the British squad after losing top overall contender Egan Bernal to injuries, Pidcock’s victory in 2022, ahead of former Tour de France winner and compatriot Chris Froome to boot, feels like the start of a new chapter both for the rider and his team.
“That was one of the best experiences of my life,” Pidcock said when asked to describe racing at the head of the field through the massive crowds of L’Alpe d’Huez but simultaneously having to avoid getting entangled in flag waving fans spilling onto the middle of the road.
“I can’t explain what it feels like, you have to just basically pray everyone’s going to move out of your way, and that is the most ridiculous experience ever. It’s one of the most iconic stage finishes in cycling, if not the most iconic, and it’s one of the best experiences of my life.”
Taking on such an emblematic stage and winning it on his debut was, Pidcock agreed, something that gave him “bigger ambitions in this race for sure in the future.”
Exactly what the British racer targets in the Tour de France longer-term remains to be seen, but what Pidcock achieved in the present, both the final stage result and the process of how he managed to create that success, could hardly fail to impress, either.
Having bridged across to the early break with a spectacular descent of the Galibier, Pidcock was one of the most active riders in the early break. He helped to whittle it down from nine to five over the next of the three Hors Categorie ascents, the Croix de Fer, with repeated accelerations.
Then with 10.4 kilometres left to race on L’Alpe d’Huez itself, Pidcock launched a first testing attack, to which only Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux) and Froome could respond. Then with 10 kilometres to go,…
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