“My head got big, I made a mistake, and I crashed" - Laurence Pithie disappointed despite impressive Paris-Roubaix debut

One of the revelations of the early part of 2024, Laurence Pithie continued to impress last weekend with a seventh-placed finish on his Paris-Roubaix debut.

Things could have been even better for the Kiwi though as he headed towards the finale with the group that would eventually battle it out for second and third behind runaway winner, Mathieu van der Poel. Sadly for Pithie however, a late crash would rule him out of that fight, and although he got back up and continued on to a 7th-placed finish, there was a tinge of disappointment for the Groupama - FDJ star post-race.

“There’s a sense of disappointment for me. I can look back at my race and also be happy with seventh, but I could have been playing for the podium,” he told Cycling News afterwards. “My head got big, I made a mistake, and I crashed, taking me out of that group.”

“I just went too fast into a gravel corner. I misjudged it and wiped myself out. I went full gas to try to come back but when you’ve got Pedersen, Politt chopping off, it’s hard to get back," the 21-year-old New Zealander continued. “I let the team down today. We never got to play our cards because I crashed. Without that mistake, we could have used our numbers in front to execute our race plan.”

Nevertheless, this latest impressive performance gives Pithie continued reason for optimism. “I didn’t do the Classics last year and so this is my first real Classics season. I’ve had some really nice results and also been upfront in the race with guys like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert, so it’s good for the future," he concludes. “I'll come back to the Classic next year and try to fight to win or be on the podium.”