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

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.”

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.”