Tom Pidcock 'stuck' between chasing GC and stage wins at Tour de France – Luke Rowe backs podium push
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Published 13/07/2023 at 20:05 GMT
Does Tom Pidcock have what it takes to win the Tour de France in future? The way he is committed to his general classification cause at the 2023 edition suggests he is determined to find out this year. His Ineos team-mate Luke Rowe joined Eurosport's coverage on Thursday and backed his fellow Brit to challenge for the final spot on the podium behind Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.
'We'll find out this weekend' - Rowe backs Pidcock to challenge for podium
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) is "stuck" between pursuing a high overall finish at the 2023 Tour de France and chasing stage wins, according to his team-mate Luke Rowe, who backed the British star to fight for a podium spot.
Pidcock wrote off his own hopes of winning the yellow jersey before the first pedal stroke, claiming he was "not good enough" to challenge Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) this year.
Yet he has avoided incident and held his own in the mountains to sit eighth in the general classification after 12 stages, albeit 5'26" back on leader Vingegaard.
With Vingegaard and Pogacar in a league of their own at the front, a separate battle for the final spot on the podium is forming. Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) currently leads the way, 2'40" off Vingegaard, with Pidcock's team-mate Carlos Rodriguez fourth at 4'22" after also flying under the radar.
But Pidcock is also in the frame after coming to the fore on the iconic Puy de Dome climb on Stage 9, finishing alongside fellow podium hopeful Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) and putting time into the likes of Hindley and Rodriguez.
Rowe, who is not competing at the Tour, dialled into The Breakaway after Stage 12 to discuss how his team-mate might approach the second half of the race.
"I think he's stuck between a rock and a hard place," said Rowe.
"He's a guy who wants to go and win races, but I think he's learning a lot about himself these three weeks. Has he actually ever ridden GC in a week, or three-week, stage race at this level? Not really.
"So each day he's learning more about himself and what he can do in the years to come."
Three big days in the mountains begin with Friday's trip up Grand Colombier, with Pidcock set to discover how realistic his podium hopes are.
"I think what we'll find out this weekend… he's either going to move up, or if he starts to fall back then he'll just fall right out and go for stages," continued Rowe.
"But if you look at the last mountain day, he had his best day so far. He'll keep battling and on Monday we'll know if he's really going to fight for the death in GC or just sit back, lose time and go and get stages.
"The way he's riding and the way the team are clearly protecting our GC spots at the moment – I actually kind of know he's going to go for GC. Between him and Carlos, I honestly believe that one of them can finish on the podium.
"They are out-climbing Hindley I think, Simon Yates you've seen a bit rocky the last couple of days, so I see no reason why they can't finish on the podium which would be an amazing accomplishment for either Carlos or Tom.
"Behind these two guys [Vingegaard and Pogacar], who are clearly on another level, is kind of best case scenario so I think we'll continue to see them fight for that."
'He could potentially do it - Lloyd on Pidcock's Tour aspirations
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Ineos star Rowe 'very surprised' by Jumbo-Visma's aggressive defence of yellow jersey
Only 23, Pidcock has already got an enviable palmarès. He won Olympic mountain bike gold, the cyclo-cross world title and triumphed on Alpe d’Huez at the Tour during an incredible 12-month spell across 2021 and 2022, while he took a superb victory at Strade Bianche in March.
Spanish legend Alberto Contador has previously claimed Pidcock will have to "make a decision" whether to give everything to win a Grand Tour or remain a multi-discipline star, with those thoughts echoed on The Breakaway after Stage 12.
"Pidcock is an interesting one because we've known for a long time just how talented he is in all sorts of different disciplines, but for me, until this point, he's not really ever shown anything that would suggest he might be a big GC rider in the future," said Dan Lloyd.
"But on the Puy de Dome, that performance was really promising. So if he can back that up over this next week and through to the final week of the race into Paris and get a top 10 in GC at the Tour de France at the age he is…
"I think that would show that if he really did want to concentrate on it, really wanted to go to altitude and sacrifice a lot of the other things that he loves doing on the bike to focus on GC at the Tour de France, then he could potentially do it."
Pidcock has already said that he wants to defend his Olympic mountain bike title at Paris 2024.
"This is the time to find out if he's got that GC potential," added Robbie McEwen.
"Find out now. And if it's not the case he can go back to being 'racer boy', go for stages, do all the other stuff. But find out now, it is the right time and place."
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