"You just want to bury yourself in a hole and hide away" - Tom Pidcock has day to forget as he admits high mountain defeat
Cycling
As the Tour de France ramped up a gear on Thursday's 6th stage, Tadej Pogacar attacked on the Col du Tourmalet and sailed to the yellow jersey. Tom Pidcock, on the other hand, didn't see the world champion's attack after already being dropped on the lower slopes of the climb.
The Pinarello Q36.5 leader experienced a day to forget in the Pyrenees as he admitted that his level on long climbs is not where it needs to be if he wants to challenge for the general classification, but remains hopeful for the rest of the race.
Pidcock finished 15th on the stage, crossing the line in Gavarnie-Gèdre part of a group 8:18 behind the all-conquering Slovenian - effectively hanging up his general classification ambitions given he was almost five minutes down on the majority of the top ten GC riders.
Reacting after the stage, Pidcock thanked Australian Chris Harper who supported him in the mountains to help pace and feed the British rider. But in an honest remark, Pidcock described the feeling of suffering on the Tourmalet, knowing there was still almost 40 kilometers of the stage remaining.
“Very tough. I’m very thankful to have Chris [Harper] there looking after me,” Pidcock said. “Although also, in those situations, you just want to bury yourself in a hole and hide away."
Pidcock remains hopeful
However, Pidcock remains hopeful of what he can achieve for the rest of the race, even if it isn't at the front of the GC group.
He added: “But no, very tough, I just don’t have it on the long climbs. I went as hard as I could, and we’ll see what we can do throughout the rest of the race.”
Pidcock was already out the back of the group of favourites when Pogacar attacked and was asked if he saw the winning move: “I don’t know, I didn’t see his attack, I was dropped.”
Even though he didn't witness it, he saw it coming. He claimed UAE Team Emirates - XRG's plan was to reclaim the yellow jersey, and that the Slovenian would be hungry to make a statement to his GC rivals.
“I knew that was going to happen today,” Pidcock said. “They wanted to keep the jersey the day they lost it, they didn’t manage it. Now there are basically four rest days for him, so yeah, today was all the cards on the table. I said this morning, today Tadej [Pogačar] can win the Tour de France.”
Pidcock suffered on long climbs at Tour de France
Pidcock's weakness has been self-diagnosed as long climbing and he knows the causes. He crashed into a ravine, injuring his knee, at Vuelta a Catalunya and also suffered an illness in mid June that ruled him out of Tour de Suisse.
While he knows a 15th place finish isn't a poor performance in the grand scheme of things, he hinted that a changed perspective could be in order as he hinted that we may see a more aggressive approach without the anchor of GC responsibilities.
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“I hope to get better and better. The biggest thing for me is difficulty on the long climbs. Crashing in Catalunya and missing the mountain stages, getting sick for a week and then missing Suisse, it doesn’t help.
“Our performance was not that bad. The level is just super high. We’ll see the rest of the race, just got to keep the spirits high. It’s not the end of the world.”
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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