Tom Pidcock’s Strade Bianche victory on Saturday left no room for any doubt regarding his Classics power, with his long solo break reminiscent of Tadej Pogačar’s efforts of last year and fuelling anticipation of just what is to come for the twenty-three-year-old Briton.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider, who skipped the defence of his cyclocross World Championship title in February in order to focus on the upcoming road season, joined a move with Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) and Andrea Bagioli (Soudal-QuickStep) at just over 50km to go.
Then after just a couple of kilometres as part of the trio distanced his companions, not so much attacking but just riding away as he adeptly managed a gravel descent.
“This week, I was in such a good headspace I just knew that something good was going to happen today,” said Pidcock after taking the victory. “I didn't overhype it, me and the guys had a great week, the team atmosphere was really good and I just I just knew something was going to happen.”
It wasn’t exactly the plan, however, to go out so early. Pidcock had launched at a similar point to the 2022 winner Pogačar, joking in an interview on Het Laatste Nieuws that what he had actually thought after 5km out the front was ‘I am not Tadej Pogacar’.
However, by that time Pidcock had already distanced Bettio and Bagioli and soon caught the early break containing Sven Erik Bystrøm (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Alessandro De Marchi (Team Jayco Alula) and Iván Romeo (Movistar), before ultimately riding clear to take on the final 20km solo.
“I said in the team meeting that I was gonna seize my moment and I guess that was it today. I did think it was too early in more than one point," said Pidcock. "But the race was so fast today, all day and I just kind of felt like it'd be hard to bring a gap back.”
It was, in fact, the fastest of the seventeen editions of Strade Bianche, delivering an average speed of 40.636 kilometres per hour, but that pace at the front was not enough to stop Pidcock's pursuers from cutting the margin to less than ten seconds within 10km to go.
“I knew at one point they were really close and I kind of thought, ‘yeah I made a mistake here, I went too early’,” said Pidcock. “But I'd shot my bullet, I had to keep going. That was my only option really.”
The skilled descender again utilised that strength to stretch the gap yet again and ultimately took the win with a 20-second margin to Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ).
Pidcock has now given Britain its first winner of the men's Strade Bianche – seven years after Lizzie Deignan delivered the nation's first-ever Strade Bianche victor at the 2016 women's edition – and his performance has only heightened expectations that there are plenty more triumphs to come.
“I want to win the biggest Classics and now I won Strade,” said Pidcock. “I mean, if I win nothing else this season I can be satisfied but of course, I'll try take this form into more races.”
