Tom Pidcock Archives

‘No photo finish needed today’ – Pidcock banishes ghosts of 2021

April 14, 2024

Pidcock outsprinted Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) after an enthralling race saw favourite Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) miss the key move.

Back in 2021, Pidcock was involved in a remarkable photo finish that saw him judged to have finished second behind Wout van Aert. Later analysis only added more confusion when it was claimed that the camera had not been properly set up.

Had the result been different that day, Sunday’s win would have seen him become just the eighth man in history to be a double champion of the one-day classic, something he felt comfortable joking about after his victory.

“I was going to say ‘it’s great to win for the second time’ but that might create some controversy,” he said.

He later added to reporters, including Eurosport: “It feels super nice and there’s no photo finish needed today!”

Pidcock underlined the fact that he has faced real challenges this campaign.

He said: “It feels really good, this year’s been so tough. I made big sacrifices at the start of the year, been away from home so much, so now to finally put it together, to get the hands in the air means a lot.”

‘No photo finish needed today’ – Pidcock banishes ghosts of 2021

Doubling down on the theme of challenges, Pidcock made reference to his debut at Paris-Roubaix last weekend, admitting that he was still feeling the effects. He showed off large blisters on his hands on social media and admitted before Sunday’s race that he had arrived without sufficient preparation.

He said: “My hand after Roubaix, this week I was struggling to sprint. I had a lot of shoulder pain so I couldn’t hold my bars properly, so I was not so confident but it was how it was going to end up.”

With the spring calendar still packed, Pidcock is looking forward to more chances to add to his palmarès.

He said: “Now the pressure’s off, we can just go and race and do our best, and dare I say enjoy them [the remainder of the spring classics]. It probably won’t be so enjoyable but a big relief.”

‘No photo finish needed today’ – Pidcock banishes ghosts of 2021

April 14, 2024

Pidcock outsprinted Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) after an enthralling race saw favourite Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) miss the key move.

“I was going to say ‘it’s great to win for the second time’ but that might create some controversy,” he said.

He later added to reporters, including Eurosport: “It feels super nice and there’s no photo finish needed today!”

Pidcock underlined the fact that he has faced real challenges this campaign.

‘No photo finish needed today’ – Pidcock banishes ghosts of 2021

With the spring calendar still packed, Pidcock is looking forward to more chances to add to his palmarès.

Pidcock claims thrilling victory in sprint finish at Amstel Gold Race

April 14, 2024

British Tom Pidcock of Ineos Grenadiers celebrates as he wins at the sprint ahead of, Swiss Mark Hirschi of UAE Team Emirates (R) and Belgian Tiesj Benoot of Team Visma-Lease a Bike (L) the men elite ‘Amstel Gold Race’ one day cycling race

Image credit: Getty Images

Pidcock says Paris-Roubaix ‘a completely different beast’ after top-20 finish on debut

April 8, 2024

Tom Pidcock admitted that Paris-Roubaix is a “completely different beast” as he revealed he couldn’t hold his handlebars by the time the race reached its conclusion.

Famous for its formidable cobbles, the one-day event is not for the faint-hearted.

And that meant Pidcock was content with coming in the top 20 as he stepped up to the senior race for the first time.

“It’s not bad,” he said, per GCN. “It was pretty epic to be fair.

“I mean I couldn’t hold my handlebars at the end, that was my biggest problem.”

Pidcock, a cross-country Olympic champion in Tokyo three years ago, has previously won the junior and under-23 editions of Paris-Roubaix, so he was not a novice when it came to the course.

And he felt racing with the seniors was a much tougher prospect than what he has previously experienced.

“It’s a completely different beast I think, the speed was pretty incredible,” he said.

“The race was split from the first sector really, in bits. It was just a day out, to be honest, there’s not really much more I could have done.

“At the end of the day, the weight comes into play and there’s only so much power I have.”

But does completing the famous race bolster his chances of lifting the cobble trophy in future?

“I think it’s more difficult now having done it,” he admitted.

‘Could have ended his season’ – Breakaway team on ‘ridiculous’ Van der Poel cap throwing incident

Stream top cycling action, including all three Grand Tours, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

‘Most special one-day race of the year!’ – Pidcock can’t wait for Paris-Roubaix

April 6, 2024

Tom Pidcock will make his professional Paris-Roubaix debut after recovering from a crash earlier this week.

He later shared that he had injured his hip and could not bear weight on it, but initial scans showed no fractures.

Pidcock has now been announced as a last-minute addition to Ineos Grenadiers’ line-up for Paris-Roubaix, with the men’s race shown live on Eurosport and discovery+ on Sunday.

“I recovered really quickly, did some more scans until I was confident nothing was wrong,” Pidcock said in a video shared by Ineos Grenadiers on social media.

“A bit of pain’s no problem. I actually had quite a good week training, I didn’t miss too much.”

Pidcock is yet to compete at Paris-Roubaix as a professional, but he has won the race twice at a youth level.

He triumphed at Paris-Roubaix Juniors in 2017, before winning the under-23 race in 2019.

“Roubaix is probably my favourite race of all,” Pidcock said. “I haven’t done it as a pro yet, so I’m excited.

“It’s the romance of it, the passion, the cobbles and the way luck plays a part in the race. It’s the most special one-day race of the year.”

Defending champion Mathieu van der Poel is among the favourites for tomorrow’s race, alongside his Alpecin-Deceuninck team-mate Jasper Philipsen.

The Dutch rider warned his rivals yesterday that the best is still to come for his Alpecin-Deceuninck team.

How to watch Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Roubaix Femmes

You can watch all of the action from Paris-Roubaix live on discovery+.

Coverage of the women’s race starts at 14:00 UK time on Saturday, April 6.

The men’s race gets underway at 09:30 UK time on Sunday, April 7.

Stream top cycling action, including Paris-Roubaix, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

Zeeman to step down as Team Visma Lease-a-Bike sporting director

April 3, 2024

Team Visma Lease-a-Bike’s sporting director Merijn Zeeman will leave at the end of the season to become CEO at Dutch football club AZ Alkmaar.

Zeeman has been at Team Visma Lease-a-Bike for almost 13 years and has helped rebuild the team after a doping scandal forced the team to rebrand in 2012.

During Zeeman’s tenure, the team has enjoyed great success in Grand Tours with Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Sepp Kuss all picking up victories.

Zeeman is also believed to have been instrumental in the transition of Wout van Aert from cyclocross to becoming a leading figure in Classics and one-day events.

In 2014, it was known as Belkin, before becoming LottoNL-Jumbo, Jumbo-Visma, and now Team Visma Lease-a-Bike.

“Precisely because I have this great organisation so close to my heart. We have come a long way and together we have made sure that we have become one of the most successful teams in recent years.

“I am incredibly proud of that. Our culture with our people and our innovative approach has created an amazing development in which we were able to write history together, with the success in 2023 as the absolute highlight.

“Team Visma Lease-a-Bike is my family, which I have lovingly put my heart and soul into for 13 years. But I also believe that it is good for everyone’s development to look for new challenges and stimuli over time.

“Continuing my career at football club AZ is my next step and I dare to take that step because I leave our strong professional organisation, led by my good friend Richard Plugge, in the capable hands of my colleagues. But first we want to write history together, also in 2024.”

Team manager Plugge hints there could be a managerial restructure at the team when Zeeman departs for his new role which begins on December 1.

Plugge said: “Merijn’s departure hurts on the one hand, but at the same time we have great confidence in our organisation, which is solid as a rock. In the coming months we will clarify how our organisation will be further structured towards the future and, as always, we will start internally.

“Of course we will also do everything together to make 2024 a successful year. We are now looking forward to that even more.”