Not tough enough, unprepared, and pure bad luck: How Tom Pidcock can still salvage his Giro d’Italia

Despite not winning, Pidcock is already performing well in the Giro. He finished fifth in Tirrana on day 1, sprinted to third place on day 5, and added a fourth place on day 11. While Pedersen won the first two places of honor in the stages, classification leader Ricard Carapaz (EF) sprinted to victory on the eleventh day. This is a difficult situation because Pidcock lacks Pedersen's enormous power, but according to Bogaerts, he cannot compete with the GC leaders.

After the time trial on day 10, Pidcock already called it 'a difficult Giro.' "The best thing is to stay focused every day. I quickly lose interest if I don't race at full throttle every day. So it's good to go about it this way. Is it fun? It would be more fun if things were getting a little better. For example, I could have been very disappointed after the Strade stage because I felt really good. But I enjoyed it."

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Although he was beaten by someone else in many stages, on paper, Pidcock had two excellent chances to go for it in week 1. However, on day 7, with a fast uphill finish, he had his 'worst day of the year'; on day 9, on the Tuscan gravel, he crashed, punctured twice, and was never close to victory. "It hasn't worked out yet, especially in the Strade Bianche stage. Tom had to change bikes twice, even though he had the legs to compete for the win."

On day 13, there was perhaps a new opportunity, with a punchy finish of 800 meters at an average gradient of 7.8 percent and double digits in the final hundreds of meters. "Probably a bit short and too explosive," said Pidcock beforehand. "But it's obviously better than a flat sprint. It's an opportunity, so let's see what we can do." And so Q36.5 rode with Visma | Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek. However, it turned out to be a race for the big guns, with Pidcock finishing 18th.

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Bogaerts pointed out Pidcock's podium finishes in stage 13 and emphasized: "Tom didn't have the preparation to ride for the GC because he trained for the classics. It's no secret that you need specific preparation if you want to go for the GC. That's why we go for it every day: to signal his body for 21 days and get the most out of it. He's doing well so far, even though there have been some difficult days."

"But there are also good days ahead because his results weren't bad at all. You must be realistic after everything he's done since the beginning of February. That's what we tell him every day," Pidcock's coach added. "In stage 11, for example, he didn't feel great on that first climb. That wasn't surprising because he hadn't trained for it. But he'll get better and better on climbs like that. Cycling uphill steadily is something you take with you into the final week."

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Pidcock hopes to have the legs to go for it in week 3, but he is still fifteenth in the GC, just over a minute off the top ten. Is deliberately losing time not an option if he wants to win a stage? "I'm not a fan of that. Tom has to fight every day, and then at a certain point, he'll be close enough to have a chance to go with the breakaway."

Those are interesting words because not losing time in the GC means that Pidcock will start the third week within striking distance of the top ten. If we turn the question around 180 degrees, why shouldn't the top ten be possible for the Brit? "Then you're riding for the GC, that's for sure. I'd be happy with that, and we're also happy with where he is now," says Bogaerts. But then he has to survive the big mountain stages.

The scenario Bogaerts seems to be counting on is that Pidcock will really feel the lack of preparation on the bigger climbs. But at the same time, he does have the legs to go all out for one day. And if his legs turn out to be better than expected, he could still do well in the GC. "We also see this Giro as something for the long term and, therefore, have to continue on this path. Learning, recovering, focusing, nutrition... That's the next step in his career."

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])