Pidcock shows he's in top form ahead of the World Championships with a solo victory at the GP Industria & Artigianato

Tom Pidcock won the GP Industria & Artigianato on Sunday. The newly crowned mountain bike world champion struck ruthlessly on the final climb, after which he crossed the finish line alone. Christian Scaroni and Anthon Charmig rounded out the podium.

The Italian fall season kicked off on Sunday with the GP Industria & Artigianato. Both the start and the finish were in Larciano. The two-day race, nearly two hundred kilometers long, featured a flat opening stage, after which the route transitioned to a loop with the San Baronto (8.2 km at 3.5 percent) as the decisive climb. In the final lap, the unpredictable Mungherino (6.2 km at 6 percent) was added to the mix. After the final climb, a fast descent led to the finish.

The race featured several big names. For example, Tom Pidcock returned to road racing just one week after winning his mountain bike world title. The versatile rider from Pinarello Q36.5 could expect stiff competition from Jan Christen, Romain Gregoire, Lenny Martinez, Scaroni, and Alex Aranburu. The latter had just won the Bretagne Classic a week ago with a brilliant attack.

The breakaway of the day quickly formed right from the start. Among the nine adventurers was Hartthijs de Vries, riding for Unibet Rose Rockets. In addition to De Vries and Uno-X Mobility intern Toralf Rydningen-Martinsen, the breakaway group consisted mainly of riders from smaller teams. For example, the Italian team General Store-Essegibi-F.Lli Curia had no fewer than three riders at the front. The group of nine quickly saw their lead grow to between two and three minutes.

On the first climb up San Baronto, it became clear that there was a significant difference in ability within the leading group. Four of the five breakaway riders were dropped. On the second pass, the group thinned out even further. Only De Vries, Martinsen, and Diego Nembrini (General Store-Essegibi-F.Lli Curia) remained. Meanwhile, the peloton trailed by nearly four minutes.

Even before the climb up San Baronto, Nembrini also had to drop back from the front. De Vries and Martinsen were clearly a cut above the other breakaway riders. The pair did notice, however, that the peloton was picking up the pace. As a result, they closed the gap to the leaders to within three minutes.

Just before the final climb up San Baronto, only one minute of the lead remained. The peloton was hot on the heels of De Vries and Martinsen. Meanwhile, Romain Gregoire was set back by a crash in the peloton.

Unfortunately for the Frenchman, the pace picked up sharply on the Baronto. Christen tested the field, after which Lennart Jasch (Tudor) and Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) successfully made the move to join the leading duo. Later, several other riders followed their lead, including Ion Izagirre (Cofidis). Meanwhile, Gregoire rejoined the peloton.

At the summit of San Baronto, the leading group included Jasch, Gachignard, Izagirre, as well as Quinten Hermans (Pinarello Q36.5), Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility), Igor Arrieta (UAE), and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) had joined the lead group at the top of San Baronto. De Vries and Martinsen were also still holding their own.

With a 20-second lead over the peloton, the nine riders headed for the final climb, the Mungherino. The climb was no walk in the park, with several kilometers averaging over 8 percent. Pidcock therefore used the Mungherino as the starting point for his attack.

The British rider from Pinarello Q36.5 surged toward the leaders, followed by Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and Scaroni (XDS Astana), Alessandro Fancellu (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), and Matys Rondel (Tudor). After a brief recovery, Pidcock attacked again.

He pulled away from the others and opened up a ten-second lead. With that lead, Pidcock charged down the descent. Thanks to his descending skills, extending that lead proved to be a breeze. Pidcock proved unbeatable and won his first road race since the Tour de France.