"A stupid mistake" - Tom Pidcock puts Tour of Flanders disappointment down to "complete hunger flat"

Despite big things having been expected of Tom Pidcock at the Tour of Flanders, the recent Strade Bianche winner had to settle for a lowly 52 in the overall standings. In his mind the reason for this was due to him having had a lack of food during the race.

"What a job these boys did yesterday. Unfortunately, I couldn’t repay them. It was all mint until I had a complete hunger flat," Pidcock revealed in an Instagram post.  "I’m amazed I even made it to the finish. A stupid mistake, but there’s always next year. Get well soon Ben Turner. A couple of weeks at home now and then back for the Ardennes."

This was a sad end to what had been an ultimately disappointing run for Pidcock at the cobbled classics. A concussion suffered at Tirreno-Adriatico meant that the 23-year-old Yorkshireman was forced to watch the E3 Saxo Classic and Milano-Sanremo from home before an 11th placed finish on his return to action at Dwars door Vlaanderen.

As Pidcock mentions in his Instagram post, next up for the INEOS Grenadiers rider is the Ardennes part of the spring. A former winner of De Brabantse Pijl in 2021, Pidcock will be hoping to return to form there on the 12th of April.