La Vuelta a Espana 2021 - Tom Pidcock comes through 'horrible' opening time trial on Grand Tour debut
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Updated 15/08/2021 at 11:20 GMT
Ineos Grenadiers' Pidcock finished 74th on the short opening ride around Burgos, 36 seconds behind stage winner Primoz Roglic of Jumbo-Visma. The Olympic mountain biking champion admitted he had enjoyed three weeks of holiday since securing that gold medal at Tokyo 2020, but is making his Grand Tour debut in a strong Ineos team for the Vuelta.
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Tom Pidcock described the opening stage of his debut Grand Tour as "horrible".
The Olympic mountain bike champion finished 74th in the opening Stage 1 time trial at the 2021 Vuelta a Espana.
Ineos Grenadiers' Pidcock was 36 seconds down on winner Primoz Roglic, with the Jumbo-Visma rider underlining his place as the favourite for a third successive overall victory in Spain.
The 7.1km ride around Burgos served as a reasonably gentle opener to the last of the year's Grand Tours.
Yet Pidcock suggested he had spent the three weeks since securing a brilliant gold medal at Tokyo 2020 in a more relaxed manner than one might usually leading in to a three-week stage race, and suffered as a result.
"I came and prepared and warmed up and went in wanting to do my best ride but I just didn’t have anything," explained Pidcock.
"I’ve basically had three weeks of holiday.
"That was horrible. Up the climb I knew that I couldn’t hold anything and then on the flat I was just cruising home because I couldn’t go deep.”
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There is considerable interest in how the multi-faceted 22-year-old goes on his Grand Tour debut.
There is little, it appears, that Pidcock cannot do on the bike, having taken his first World Tour victory at Brabantse Pijl in the spring and narrowly missing out at the Amstel Gold Race to Wout van Aert.
As an emerging rider he won both the Paris-Roubaix Espoirs in 2019 and then the overall crown at the "Baby Giro" last year, while he is also already a cyclo-cross U23 World Champion and elite silver medallist.
Pidcock admitted that he had considered withdrawing from the Vuelta after his Tokyo triumph, but he is hoping to grow into the race as it goes on.
“Honestly, before I was thinking, do I really want to go do a race for three weeks because I won an Olympic medal and that’s something that some people work for their whole lives and don’t achieve," Pidcock added.
"I made sure that I acknowledged that and let it set in but I’m glad that I’m here. It’s going to be good experience and once I get into the racing a bit I won’t be in too bad shape.
"I would have preferred some longer flat stages to get back into it but it was a hit out I guess to get that top end back a bit."
After a first chance for the sprinters to open up their legs on Stage Two, Pidcock could contend as the Vuelta heads uphill for the first time on Stage Three, finishing at Picon Blanco.
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