"I am better than ever" - Laurence Pithie ready to brawl with the best at Monuments
Cycling
Laurence Pithie was one of the positive revelations of last spring campaign with attacking style of racing which rewarded him with a 7th place at Paris-Roubaix. For this season, he joined the ambitious project of Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe whose Classics squad has all the potential to become the successors of legendary Wolfpack. Pithie naturally aspires to become the pack leader.
Compared to previous years, Pithie started to race in Europe a bit later. But that was a part of his plan to be at the top in key races, he confides to In de Leiderstrui: "I missed the Opening Weekend, but in the end it was only two races, right? There is not much time in the winter, so you have to make choices and check all the boxes."
So far, the young classics core of Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe couldn't make the ends meet. According to Pithie, everything should be fine soon: "We are a young group and we get along well. The atmosphere is good, so that should work naturally when we start racing."
Quality always rises to the top, Pithie thinks. "We have a super strong classic team, with a lot of cards to play. If you don't have a real leader like Van der Poel or someone who has won a lot, then you have to play it a bit more openly. If you have multiple options in the finals, then you have a good chance."
Communication will be the key
"We have to be honest with each other, about how we feel and communicate well with each other about who is good and who is less good. We also have a good staff, who helps us. That will be fine."
Pithie has been through some tough luck so far in the season, crashing just under Cipressa at Milano-Sanremo, two punctures at E3 Saxo Classics and then unfortunately missing key split at Gent Wevelgem... Nevertheless the Kiwi cyclist is confident in his legs.
"I am better than ever, for sure. I have really made a step, with many changes in the field of coaching, nutrition and performance. I can draw confidence from that. I have had a completely different preparation than usual, in which I always came to Europe early to race. Now I have been to New Zealand for a while after the Australian block and then I was at altitude in Tenerife for three weeks. I have trained a lot and I am ready."
Will he attack again from far out at Flanders and Roubaix, like last year? Pithie laughs: "I don't think I'll attack as much as last year, although you never know in these crazy classics. You have to be ready for everything when the opportunity presents itself."
Just in
Play for FREE! Fantasy Tour of Flanders
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Popular news
Latest comments
- Why do Ineos want him.? He cannot challenge the big four and they already have a ton of strong domestiquesabstractengineer04-04-2025
- As Wout said on Srava today "Things don't always go your way... but a flat white and peanut butter brownie can make up for a lot" Puts it in perspective!VgnRider04-04-2025
- Watch out Urska, I think he’s taken a liking to MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau04-04-2025
- Totally!Mistermaumau04-04-2025
- It will be interesting to see how he goes on the cobbles, so far he's looking very strong.awp04-04-2025
- if there is an actual weakness in wout even when completely healthy, it’s that he’s in his head too often. this has been pointed out many times by much more acute observers of cycling than ME, certainly. it may be that he’s been like this since he was a little kid. we are who we are. or that he was shaped by having faced van der poel SOOO many times. mvdp has zero second thoughts. he wastes no time at all on doubt. that has, in the past, led him to do some pretty insane things and make mistakes that wout would never have committed. but it also makes him a killer. you can see wout’s split seconds of doubt and hesitation everywhere in their head to head battles. those hesitations spill over into other races at times like dwars, when doubt creeps in. i believe that currently he is still coming back from physical problems due to injuries, but even when he’s full strength the mental game is an area of potential concern, AND potential improvement.OCexile03-04-2025
- Not only the public, just about every analyst and commentator had been piling it on. Under the circumstances I’d even say he’s showing real character. Not sure likeable Tadej would manage as well during a longer rough patch.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Took a while but we finally have a more nuanced analysis.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- If I remember right, it was those same hungry journalists selling us a different story less than a year ago about the bleak future of Dutch (men’s) cycling with no possible successor for MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Good, hopefully Jonas goes also so we get a nice duelvappaxbipmv03-04-2025