Pidcock performs GC high jump
Briton vaults up standings and takes third on stage 13 in Tour de France
Let’s all give thanks and praise the Tom Pidcock is on the Tour de France.
The race needs his panache, his wisecracks, his desire to race with aggression and have a damn good time doing it.
The stage from Dole to Belfort was written up in ALL CAPS as a breakaway stage. A super-sized group of riders got the message and went up the road.
You don’t see a 40 rider break that often.
And what British climber for Pinarello - Q36.5 Pro Cycling was in that jailbreak? Tom Pidcock. He had two secret plans for the day: win the stage, and hopefully move up from 10th on the general classification, 11 minutes 49 seconds behind Tadej Pogačar.
That’s ambitious goal setting but that fits Pidcock’s personality. He goes bike, he attacks descents like a kamikaze and it’s afraid to take risks.
A jumbo break that size is filled with passengers, opportunists and riders from teams desperate for Tour success. There’s even Brandon McNulty and Tim Wellens from UAE Emirates, who got get out of jail cards from Captain Pogǎcar.
Pidcock is tracking most of these rivals and it’s quite the workload. The two Jayco riders Mauro Schmidt and Luke Plapp launch attacks. Marc Hirshi and Ben Healy attack. Kévin Vauquelin then drives to the front. It’s a free-for-all. You can barely catch your breath.
Back in the peloton, they are way, way back, as in over eight minutes. Un jour de repos before the GC insanity tomorrow.
Pidock is marking like crazy and then makes his own bid to drop everyone on the climb of the Ballon d’Alsace. He can’t quite snap the elastic, which must be industrial grade.
But all those bullets firing is having an effect as the front group shrinks to ten men. Pidcock hits the summit first and they all fly down the backside, heading for Belfort.
Right now, ripping down the road, it’s a good news, not so good news scenarios. He’s bouncing between a virtual 3rd and 4th on GC, a jump of six places and he’s back in the hunt for a podium.
The not-so-good, rather challenging part is how to drop the other nine guys. And what are the two UAE guys McNulty and Wellens planning? Are they going to attack or just trying to get first showers in the team bus?
Pidcock is still running his calculations when Mauro Schmid attacks with Harold Tejada. Well, that settles that. They punch out a gap of 20 seconds with 6.5k to go and the chase lack velocity. Nothing Pidcock can do nothing at this point, running on empty.
Finally, McNulty makes a belated solo effort at 2k but his timing was late. Schmid and Tejada play games in the final 500 meters with Pidcock and company closing fast now. Schmid saves Jayco AlUla’s Tour de France with a big victory.
Pidcock consoles himself with third on the stage but if there’s any consolation in just missing a Tour stage win, it’s his rocket launch up the GC standings. He’s now fourth at 4:15, just nine seconds from Remco Evenepoel’s podium spot in third.
Tom Pidcock is at the Tour de France to race. We’re so glad he’s here.