Ineos Grenadiers’ Tom Pidcock believes that cyclists have to sacrifice their involvement in the Spring Classics in order to challenge for overall Grand Tour victory.
The majority of the Classics take place in March and April, including the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, with the intensity and longevity of the one-day events taking a lot out of the riders.
However, while they carry plenty of prestige for the winners, the competitive nature of the events mean that 23-year-old rider Pidcock is just one voice suggesting that a full tilt at one or more Grand Tour is not compatible with the distraction of the Classics.
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“I had some good results this year, but last year was much better. It was my first year as a pro, I won Brabantse and arguably Amstel,” Pidcock told Cycling Weekly. “Not arguably actually,” he continued, referencing the dead heat victory that was ultimately awarded to Wout van Aert in 2021.
2022 saw him win his first Tour de France stage, becoming the youngest-ever winner of the Alpe d’Huez stage, as well as claiming World and European mountain bike titles.
He continued: “Yeah, Alpe d’Huez was the highlight this year of course, but there were too many other things that went wrong.
“I got pretty ill at one point, so I had two good parts of the year really and it could have gone much better.”

Incredible scenes as Pidcock rides through fans on the Alpe d'Huez at Tour de France

A lack of fitness meant that he missed out on another classic, Strade Bianche in Italy, and he was forced to retire from Milan-San Remo.
“For me to be at my absolute best, I need a smooth run into a race with good results beforehand that give me confidence with good training and build-up," said Pidcock.
“I always end up finishing with regrets otherwise because I think, ‘I know I can do better, or I should have done this or that when I race without that confidence.
“I remember the crowds more than anything on Alpe d’Huez, that distracted a lot from winning. When you experience something like that, for the first time, it shakes up all your emotions. At times it just seemed like there was no road in front of me, then suddenly people would move and I could ride through.”
Pidcock is looking to the future when he considers his chances of an outright, general classification victory at a Grand Tour, but is not reading too much into his single stage victory.
“Sure, it was great, yeah, although I won from a breakaway, I didn’t win from the best riders in the world,” he said. “It was a nice stepping stone if you like."
He then suggested that for any rider, a Tour needs to be prioritised at the expense of other events.
He began: “In some ways you would need to sacrifice the classics, you couldn’t do them all. I think this year Tadej [Pogacar] did more classics than he’s ever done before and he didn’t win the Tour, which may or may not be related.
“The thing with racing at the Tour now is that it’s just full gas, all the time. When you’re going up the long climbs and you’re at threshold, and then you’re attacking each other it’s just so explosive. It’s really like nothing else.”
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