New Pinarello-Q36.5 plan can be partially thrown in the trash again after Pidcock made a 'probable mistake'

Tom Pidcock struck a great blow on Friday in stage 13. The Briton from Pinarello-Q36.5 suddenly found himself fourth in the standings after a fine coup. However, after another day of attacking on Saturday, Pidcock dropped back to ninth place. That is a shame, as according to compatriot and teammate Fred Wright, it was a test to which a potential 'new battle' was tied. Text and explanation.

First, let’s look at Friday’s stage, in which Pidcock kept pace and ultimately finished the day in fourth place overall. “Yesterday was just… the situation arose, so we just had to ride as hard as we could,” Wright reflected on Saturday morning—speaking to this site, among others—about the previous day’s stage. So they rode hard to secure the best possible position in the standings for Pidcock. And it worked.

However, that wasn’t the only thing on Pinarello-Q36.5’s mind. “At the same time, we were also going for the stage win,” the British champion admitted. Still, Pidcock’s victory turned out to be an excellent result. “We had a plan, but it’s pretty rare for a plan to go almost as well as you’d imagined it that morning,” Wright realised a day later.

What happens next? Pidcock himself decided not to make too much of his fourth-place finish in the general classification, but when we asked Wright about it, he had a different take. “We always knew he’d get better and better as the Tour went on. This weekend will really be a test. Today (Saturday, ed.) will be a real test. We’ll see. If he really hits his peak form, we’re in for a real battle for the general classification.”

In that test, Pidcock immediately went on the attack again. That would ultimately cost him the lead later in the stage. The breakaway was caught, and the Briton finished eighteenth at the top of Le Markstein. That was just over three and a half minutes behind winner Pogacar, making Pidcock number 9 in the general classification. That is just under 8 minutes behind the yellow jersey and 3 minutes from the podium.

'I jumped to the lead group – probably a mistake, given that final climb. But anyway, it is what it is,' he analyzed afterwards to Cyclingnews. 'Eventually Visma started riding anyway – presumably to make things difficult for the UAE – although they would have ridden their own pace anyway, so actually not much changed. It did give me a small lead in the finale, but on the last climb I didn't have much power left in my legs.'

That was a nice boost for Wright, who’s starting to feel better and better. “I’m in good shape. I’m really happy with how I felt yesterday (Friday, ed.). The heat did take me by surprise a bit. The first ten days were really just about surviving the heat. After that, you think you’ve gotten through the worst of it, but yesterday when I hit that climb, I thought: ‘Pour some water on me!’” laughed the friendly Brit.

A rider like him hasn’t had too many opportunities yet. “Sometimes it’s just about staying mentally positive for riders like me, aside from how many watts you can still put out. I think that’s what we did yesterday,” Wright explained. And so, with him in such good form, he can still hope for something special later in this Tour. “I think Stages 17 and 18 could be good for a breakaway.”

“Stage 18 finishes uphill, so that won’t be for me, but Stage 17—and Stage 21 as well—are days where I hope I can make a move,” the British champion continued in his preview. But first, there’s that “new battle” with Pidcock. “It really depends on this weekend. We need to give Tom as much support as possible. I’ll do my best to stay with him as long as I can.”