Tom Pidcock finally has licence to spice up the Tour de France
Four years have passed since Tom Pidcock risked life and limb with a daring, high-speed descent down the backside of Alpe d’Huez.
That highlight reel moment remains the sole stage victory at a Tour de France for Yorkshire’s multi-talented cyclist, for whom the great three-week grand tour has never suited his strengths.
Mountain bikes, cyclo-cross and even one-day races on a road bike – yes. The demands of a general classification challenge have never fully motivated him.
Until that is he left Ineos Grenadiers – who are not taking Yorkshire lads Ben Turner or Connor Swift with them – last winter to become a true team leader a little further down the ranks with Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling, a team whose ambitions match his.
Last September he finished third at the Vuelta Espana, a grand tour breakthrough, meaning he returns to the Tour which gets underway in Barcelona on Saturday as one of the more intriguing riders in the peloton.
The fight for yellow will again be raged by Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who chases a fifth overall victory, and Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard, second the last two years, twice a winner and champion at the Giro d’Italia in May.
The mercurially talented Remco Evanepoel was third last year but may still be a few wheel lengths behind the main two.
So it is left to 26-year-old Pidcock to spice things up, either with a run for the podium, or more likely given his history and motivation – a few stabs at stage victories to add to that Alpe d’Huez triumph.
Douglas Ryder, Q36.5’s team principal, backed that theory up when saying of the Tour debutants: “We come with a group that combines experience, versatility and the mindset we want to race with. Our approach is simple: we’ll race proactively and look for opportunities every day.”