It’s long been an issue of speculation and discussion in the cycling world, hyped by some as an exciting new direction in the career of one of the peloton’s most talented riders, dismissed by others as a folly. But stage nine of the Vuelta a España was the first time we really saw Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) ride as a GC contender, and truly look like someone who could win a Grand Tour.
On a stage that turned out to be far more selective than expected, Pidcock emerged as one of the strongest climbers in the race. While Jonas Vingegaard rode away with the stage win, soloing away from the rest of the field after a surprise ambush set up by his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Matteo Jorgenson at the foot of the climb, Pidcock finished second-place just 24 seconds later, himself and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) having put daylight between themselves and the rest of the GC hopefuls.
It was a brilliant climbing performance from the Brit, possibly the best of his career. While he has, of course, triumphed atop the legendary Alpe d’Huez at the Tour de France three years ago, a result that would be a highlight of any elite climber's parcours, that was from having had the head start of being in the day’s break. Today was different in that he was better than all but one rider in the group of favourites, and there was an assured measuredness to the way he paced himself today that made him look every bit the Grand Tour contender.
Image: Getty
When Visma-Lease a Bike first launched their move, Pidcock did not make the mistake Giulio Ciccone did in trying to follow straight away. Wanting perhaps to deliver on all the work his Lidl-Trek team did throughout the day in controlling the peloton and making sure the break was brought back, Ciccone dug deep to follow Vingegaard’s wheel initially, only to pay for his efforts and fall away. Instead, Pidcock remained in the chase group, following the wheel of Almeida as he charged up the climb. One by one, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Matteo Jorgenson, Matthew Riccitello (IPT), Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari (both Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) were all dropped, but Pidcock hung on. Then, when Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) also fell away, the Brit was the only man left with Almeida.
“When Jonas goes it’s always so difficult to follow,” Pidcock explained at the finish. ”I thought Almeida was the perfect wheel to follow. Maybe we could come back together, I thought.”
Riding at the very front of a GC race like this was a new experience for Pidcock, so it was impressive that he managed to keep his head while Almeida pressured him for help. Pidcock was on the limit trying to follow his pace, and so did not heed the Portuguese rider’s visible remonstrations with him to take longer turns. “I just couldn’t give him any turns,” Pidcock confirmed. “He shouted at me, but he’s like a tractor on the flattest section of the climb.”
Instead, he did only the amount of work he detected he was capable of without getting dropped, and saved enough energy to follow an acceleration from Almeida in the final kilometre, and even pip him on the line for second place and some extra bonus seconds.
As a result, Pidcock leaps up from 11th overall to fourth, 1:35 down on Torstein Træen in the red jersey and just 58 seconds behind Vingegaard, and looks well poised to challenge not only for a podium finish, but potentially even the red jersey. That comes as a serious vindication for his decision to target the GC at this Vuelta rather than chase stages. This approach has been criticised in some quarters, with many believing that Pidcock is not playing to his strengths by doing so, and should be prioritising chasing stage wins instead. It’s notable that, from his five previous Grand Tour appearances to date, he has not finished higher than 13th (at the 2023 Tour de France), despite targeting a high GC finish in many of them. This year’s Giro d’Italia, where he rode a quiet and subdued race, foregoing attacks in favour of a nondescript 16th overall finish, was seen as an example of how this GC focus was curtailing his natural talents.
Indeed, subdued was also how you could describe Pidcock’s start to this Vuelta a España, too. Despite putting his Q36.5 team to work at the front of the peloton for much of stage two, ahead of an uphill finish that looked perfectly suited to his punchy characteristics, he lacked the legs come the finale, and only managed tenth place. Then the following day, on another uphill finish that would normally be in his wheelhouse, he was even further down, outside of the top 20. It seemed Pidcock had arrived at the race undercooked and short of his best form.
Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
In hindsight, however, it appears that Pidcock has been pacing himself, growing into the race ahead of the more important mountain stages. While he was not in contention for the stage win during the two first big mountain stages in the Pyrenees on Thursday and Friday, nor particularly visible at the front of the group of favourites, neither did he lose any time in them, finishing with Vingegaard and co in the elite group of 12 and 15 on stages six and seven respectively. And now today he reached another level, truly announcing himself as a GC contender by not just managing not to lose time, but gaining it over most of his rivals.
This has been an opening week of great maturity from Pidcock, in which he has demonstrated the patience required to play the long game of targeting the overall classification. We’re used to him being a restless, jumpy rider, who loves to attack and seize opportunities, whenever he can, rather than with the cool, calculating head of someone racing for three whole weeks. By contrast, this week he has been far calmer and more measured. While he has not prospered on the kind of stages he’d traditionally suit, he did today on a stage that doesn’t, one where the pure climbers came to the fore; and the kind where the real GC sort outs happen.
There’s a long way to go, and the real test of whether he can really challenge for the red jersey will be how well he can retain his legs into the second and third weeks, and how he can handle the bigger mountain tests to come - including, of course, the Angliru. But as a GC contender, he’s passed this opening week with flying colours.
Cover image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
