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It poured with rain during the opening day of Tirreno-Adriatico but morale was high at Ineos Grenadiers as Filippo Ganna won the 11.5km opening time trial just 48 hours after Tom Pidcock dominated Strade Bianche.
Pidcock’s victory in Siena after a 50km solo attack showed the Yorkshireman’s full potential and determination in the second major Classic of the season.
Jumbo-Visma and former Ineos rider Dylan van Baarle dominated Omloop Het Nieuwsblad but Ineos responded in Italy, much to the pleasure of team manager Rod Ellingworth.
“You can feel it in the team, victory at Strade Bianche has lifted everybody and that’s exactly where you want them to be. To kick off early with a big win settles everybody down,” Ellingworth told Cyclingnews at Tirreno-Adriatico.
“Fair play to Tom, he’s done a good job. There’s no better bike race for him due to his bike skills, climbing ability and hunger. Strade Bianche was his first big goal of 2023. It was the reason why he didn’t do the cyclocross worlds and that proved to be the right choice.”
Ellingworth recognised Pidcock’s character in his Strade Bianche victory, the 23-year-old feeling extra motivation – not fear – for the big races.
“I told him earlier how I was really impressed with his ride. Most people would have given up when the gap to the chasers fell to just eight seconds but he didn’t. He said to me: ‘I went all in’,” Ellingworth said.
“I love that in a bike rider. It was impressive but that’s Tom’s character. He can step up on the big occasions. You can see the special riders, they step up like that. Think about the Tour de France last year when he won on L’Alpe d’Huez, the mountain bike race at the Olympics. They’re all big, big moments, so seeing him do that again on Saturday was impressive.”
Creating a sense of competition inside Ineos
Ellingworth admits he likes a sense of competition inside his team. It has to be managed, but helps everyone perform better.
“We like ambitious young riders at Ineos Grenadiers,” Ellingworth said with a smile.
“I quite like that sort of pressure in the team. And I’ve constantly talked about the upward pressure from the young guys to the older guys too. Look at Geraint Thomas’ performances last year; he stepped up because these young kids were pushing him. That’s exactly what you want.
“Last year Tom was finding his feet and we gave him time but when he saw people like Magnus Sheffield winning races last year he wanted it too. You can see that he’s really…
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