"In the end that made it more difficult" - Pidcock admits breakaway mistake as he loses time in Tour de France GC bid
CyclingSunday, 19 July 2026 at 10:04
In the middle of Stage 14 of the 2026 Tour de France, Tom Pidcock was once again virtually riding onto the podium. The British rider had enjoyed a breakaway bonanza on Friday, earning seven minutes over the general classification contenders, and less than 24 hours later, was back in the breakaway despite his GC gains.
Sitting in fourth place overall, Pidcock managed to join a group of around 37 riders as UAE Team Emirates - XRG set their rhythm behind. The break split as several riders broke off in pursuit of stage honours while the remnants - including Pidcock - were left to slowly sink back to the peloton.
Caught before the Col du Haag finale, Pidcock set back in with the GC contenders to try and maintain position. However, as he found out on stage 6's Col du Tourmalet, long climbs came back to bite him, leaving him behind in the battle for the win among the group of favourites.
His presence in the breakaway raised eyebrows, with some speculating that the added effort in a smaller group during the first half of the stage had caught up with him. After the stage, Pidcock admitted that the move may have been a mistake.
“I jumped across to the break – probably a mistake, with that last climb,” Pidcock said. “But you know, whatever.”
Breakaway never really got away
The breakaway never really got away throughout the stage, especially when Pidcock was part of the main group. The Briton admitted that his presence may have impacted the cohesion of the group as the chase behind continued due to his presence.
“In the end that made it more difficult because it was not really smooth – no one wanted to do anything," Pidcock noted.
Ultimately, the breakaway attackers were caught on the final climb as Richard Carapaz and Tobias Johannessen were reeled in. Visma | Lease a Bike turned up the heat in the latter stages of the climb before Tadej Pogacar's victorious attack, which led to extensive gaps.
Pidcock's GC bid falters
Pidcock is one of the top ten riders to lose major time in Alsace, but feels it was inevitable as his legs began to falter on the slopes of Col du Haag.
He added: “But in the end Visma rode, I guess to make it harder for UAE, but they were going to ride their pace no matter what so it didn’t really change anything.
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“But at least it meant I got a little bit of a head start in the final, but on the last climb I didn’t have much legs left.”
Plateau de Solaison offers another stern test for the GC on Sunday. Ahead of stage 15, Pidcock now sits in ninth place overall and 7:59 down on yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- While Jonas was unlikely to defeat Tadej for the Yellow Jersey - suggesting he would be "lucky" to finish on the podium is just as delusional.JBlake19-07-2026
- This sucks for Jonas and his team. But this comment is delusional: The most frustrating part for Visma was that, as Reef explained, the team was executing to perfection the plan designed to try to beat Tadej Pogacar on the final climb. Try not finishing 5th is more like it. Jonas doesn’t have it. He would have been lucky to hold onto 2nd or even the podium.mij19-07-2026
- Yes, Pogi didn't want to win today. We could see from the helicopter, that he never really tried to pass Remco. But maybe Remco also deserves to win his first mountain stage in TdF. He worked hard to keep up with Jonas and Pogi.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales19-07-2026
- Tadej protected Del Toro so he could potentially kick Seixas out of the white jersey. Waking Jonas @ 2am and Tadej @ 5am for a doping control is stupid and these decisions, by whoever is making them, do have consequences.awp19-07-2026
- Am I the inly one who thinks Remco was gifted stage by Pog. Maybe way off the mark but from powerhouse on the climbs to barely challenging for the stage😮😮😮😮😮😮. Really sad for Vin though crashing out.paultryan200219-07-2026
- Pretty impressed with Pog’s post-race input. Recalls MVDPs disastrous performance after being pestered and arrested pre-race.Mistermaumau19-07-2026
- Two plausible explanations It was AI. They saw with Fifa no-one cares much about perceived biais anymore.Mistermaumau19-07-2026
- Pog would not win today out of respect for Jonas. At least, not for even a moment did I think he would take the win.Hills3319-07-2026
- The post-stage comments are all political, carefully managed diplomatic remarks. Tadej is smart enough not to say outright that he could obviously have won. Even so, UAE gained quite a bit, despite the stage victory slipping away. Remco was better than usual, but he also knows what the reality is and isn't going to say it out loud. It's really a shame for Jonas, he didn't deserve what happened, he's a good guy. I wouldn't be surprised if he retired. He doesn't live for cycling, especially if he's not winning anymore. He has a family back home, which he loves very much, and he's financially stable.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales19-07-2026
- the speed at which they are traveling: more than 10 guys broke the record on the tourmalet; the peloton completed the fastest ever stage.... is all the evidence I would think the French authorities need to assume something "might" be going on so they test. If you buy in to the "it's nutrition and recovery and special mattresses that wake me up when I snore that explain how fast we are" then I have a bridge to sell youwhkman19-07-2026
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