photo credits @ Strade Bianche
Tom Pidcock claimed a solo victory in today’s Strade Bianche, after the British rider commenced a series of attacks some 45 kilometers from the finish, beating Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma) after a concerted cat-and-mouse chase effort failed to rein-in the the Ineos-Grenadiers rider.
Race Highlights
Pidcock’s first attack was in pursuit of the day’s three-man breakaway group containing Sven Erik Bystrøm (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Alessandro De Marchi (Team Jayco Alula) and Iván Romeo (Movistar), before riding clear.
Despite maintaining a comfortable gap for the next 35 kilometers or so, Pidcock’s lead later fell to a mere six-seconds with 10 kilometers still remaining.
However, a skillful descent allowed him to increase his advantage back up to 30-seconds as he entered the Piazzo del Campo.
This proved to be enough, with Pidcock crossing the finish 20-seconds ahead of Madouas and Benoot to seize the day’s honors, marking the first-ever win for a male British rider in the Italian spring classic.
Meanwhile, Portuguese veteran Rui Costa (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert), Hungarian teammate Attila Valter and the Slovenian Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) rounded out the top-five finishers.
“Honestly, it’s going to take some sinking in,” a jubilant Pidcock said after his latest triumph. “When I went, that was completely not the plan. Obviously, that sector is often the decisive place. But I was just riding hard. I got a gap so I carried on.
“This week I had a feeling that something good would happen – I knew that today would be my day, but that it actually paid off is incredible. A few times the chasers came close and I thought I had messed it up, gone too early, wasted my one shot. But I also know how hard it is to bring back a gap in races like this,” he added.
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