"I was dying" - Tom Pidcock gives it his all on Vuelta TTT and Q36.5 surprise with Top10

Tom Pidcock did his first ever team time-trial as an elite pro rider only this week at the Vuelta a Espana, arguably with a team that wouldn't be able to match his previous INEOS Grenadiers teammates. However, the Swiss team exceeded expectations and take the Briton in fine position into the Vuelta's mountains.

"We did a few sessions, tried to do what we could to get ready for it. I think we did a really good job to be honest," Pidcock said in a post-race interview with TNT Sports. "The last five kilometres were horrible, I kept missing the back, you know when someone pulls out and you mistime it, then I was dying".

However that effort was worth it, as Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team crossed the line with the eighth best time on the day, 22 seconds behind UAE Team Emirates - XRG, but less than 15 seconds behind all other teams that had surpass it.

He arrived together with David de la Cruz, Damien Howson and Xabier Mikel Azparren, an unlikely quartet to break into such a strong result in the middle of the World Tour teams. "For sure, we always knew it was going to be difficult to win, of course, but knew if we did good, solid ride, we would not lose much time, so not bad."

To Cyclingnews, Pidcock's coach Kurt Bogaerts is quite positive on the Briton's form: "He was in the mix on stage 2, but it's these kinds of finishes where a lot of experience comes in. Tom is now putting more focus on the road, and every finish like that, you get more wisdom for the next one, and you can analyze,"

The sixth stage ends in Andorra, terrain Pidcock knows all too well, and in the climb to Pal Arinsal where only a month ago he won a Mountain BIke World cup race. His GC ambitions will be a little more clear by the time the stage is over.

"But he knows that, and that you can take away how everything needs to be timed really well. Guys like Jonas Vingegaard have done many finals against Pogacar and sometimes he's had the upper hand".

But the 26-year old is eager to test himself in the first mountain stage of the race, where the weather can also play an important role. "But we will get there. I think we see day by day, but tomorrow and the next day are too hard stages, and we're looking forward to that."