Finish line hugs 🤗 @tompidcock #StradeBianche
"After Tadej Pogacar attacked it felt like we were in the grupetto" - Stunned Tom Pidcock concedes defeat at Strade Bianche 2024
CyclingMonday, 04 March 2024 at 09:50
Coming into the Strade Bianche 2024 as defending champion, Tom Pidcock put up a brave effort to reclaim his victory. Sadly for the INEOS Grenadiers star, Tadej Pogacar was simply on another level.
"After Tadej attacked it felt like we were in the grupetto, to be honest," Pidcock reflected on the difference in class post-race with Eurosport. Pogacar attacked clear solo with over 80km still to go, leaving everyone in the dust en route to winning by nearly three minutes. "It was just dead bodies everywhere."
Pidcock eventually came home in 4th, missing out on a return to the podium. "I just waited too long. It was just too little too late you know," he analyses of his own performance. "If I'd played it a bit better I would have been second but yeah, I don't really have any words for that to be honest!"
For 2024, Strade Bianche added an extra 30km, making it the toughest version ever of one of cycling's already toughest races. "We were racing like it was still the old parcour!" Pidcock says. "The result would've been the same but if it had been the same distance though," he admits.
claps 6visitors 7004
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024
- well, del grosso is 21 right now. when mathieu was a year younger than that, he was already winning elite level world championships, not U23. i think del grosso will be a very good pro for years, but if he was really going to be the next van der poel someday, he’d already have to be at that level right NOW. van der poel was showing signs of true greatness when he was 15-16. THAT’S what generational talent looks like.OCexile25-12-2024
- Yeah.... gear 😅.mikolajjj24-12-2024
- It shouldn’t be about expectations in the first place should it? Besides, if you look at everyone’s calculations as a whole they don’t add up in the first place. There’ll be 2-3 riders with a 50% chance, a dozen with 10 or 20% and dozens more with a 5% so we’re expecting at least 2 if not 3 winners. Remind me again who won before her? Says it all about using data to decide on participation.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- Ok, happy I’m not too interested in this team coz’ the account of what happened is really hard to follow.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- The UCI is worse than USA CyclingVeganpotter24-12-2024
- It's not like they wanted her to not win😅 She had an outstanding Olympics. But there's a reason why she wasn't expected to win the road race and that's ok. Things like this happen and it's great...better than seeing expected winners win.Veganpotter24-12-2024
- Bruyneel ? The man with a lifetime ban from cycling...why do you keep giving him and his doper mate, Armstrong, a platform?DJ24-12-2024
- yeah, agree. on the subject of being a “complete rider,” i do think that’s getting more interesting. mathieu seems to have decided he wants to get much better at climbing the the high mountain passes. he appears to be looking for new challenges, which should be interesting to watch. in most cases you’d dismiss a goal like that at age 30, but it’s mvdp. he’s never going to climb with the real climbers, but if he can improve enough it could open up stage wins when the parcours isnt just purely toothy and punchy.OCexile24-12-2024