Tom Pidcock was Britain’s big hope for the Elite Men’s rainbow jersey on Sunday, but eventually finished in 10th place, after what he described as the most unenjoyable race of his season.
Pidcock led a strong team into the 267.6km race around Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali, and in the closing stages of the race found himself as part of a strong five man group pursuing a leading duo, including eventual winner, Tadej Pogačar. However, the Yorkshireman was unable to hold on, slipping out of that group, eventually fighting his way across the line some 9.05 down.
Pidcock was seen off the back of the bunch at the team car talking with Sports Director Matt Brammeier on the second lap of the 267.5km race, raising concerns that he might have been struggling. However, when the race headed out of Kigali for a single lap of a 48km loop including the day’s two hardest climbs, he was perfectly positioned.
Close to the top of Mont Kigali, Pogačar made his race winning move, initially taking two others with him, and Pidcock found himself as part of a large chasing peloton. That group was less than a minute behind the lead when they returned to the 15.1km city circuit for the final six of the 15 laps, but though he made his way into the five man group on the following lap, there was no way back for Pidcock.
“It was so hard,” he said in a post-race interview for TNT Sport. “To be honest I didn’t feel so good in the start and then I was coming round and into the race and I just completely blew. It was survival until the finish, it was absolutely brutal.
“At one point when it was the five of us away behind Tadej, at that point I thought ‘you know anything’s possible,’ but then the legs fell off. I think I was the best guy from coming from the Vuelta so you can’t have everything these days. I did my best like I said I would and that’s it.”
Pidcock arrived in Rwanda with clear ambitions for the podium, saying before the race, “We’re here to do well. I wouldn’t travel all the way to Africa if I didn’t think that I could perform. We’ll see. I mean, it’s not like we’re not here to race to win. That’s evident. Worlds is always a day where anything could happen. We’re not making too many expectations now.”
