Tom Pidcock insisted that he could win La Flèche Wallonne one day and that Tadej Pogačar is beatable on the Mur de Huy, but Wednesday wasn't to be the day those things came together.
The Strade Bianche winner was in the thick of the action on the devilishly steep final climb of the mid-week Classic but faded in the final 200 metres and finished down in 18th place.
As Pidcock clawed his way to the finish, Pogačar was crossing the line 15 seconds in front, celebrating his third straight Classic title after the Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold Race.
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"He was good. I think this is where he is beatable, this climb, but today it was not me," Pidcock said. "I was not good today."
Pidcock was led into the 1.2km Mur de Huy by his Ineos Grenadiers teammate Magnus Sheffield, and he proceeded to tick off the first half of the climb in the top 10 positions. He lost a couple of places through the S-bend section but then made a notable surge on the left to draw close to Pogačar with 300 metres to go.
However, he perhaps paid for that effort, and he also indicated he paid for his exertions at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, where he made the podium but was pedalling squares in the home straight.
"It was fine, it was not so hard, but I just didn't have any explosivity," Pidcock said.
"I went very deep on Sunday, and I just haven't recovered. That's just how it is. I think I can win this race on my day, for sure. I just didn't have the strength when it really mattered.
"Positioning was difficult. It was a big group, fast all day with a tailwind, then a headwind into the climb, and we had to come from quite far. It was... not great."
The Spring promised a great deal when Pidcock soloed to a spectacular victory at Strade Bianche at the start of March, but it has proved a trying time. He was forced to miss Milan-San Remo through concussion, bonked at the Tour of Flanders, and suggested he struggled with the distance at Amstel.
Nevertheless, despite La Flèche Wallonne falling short of his high standards, he sounded optimistic ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.
"I've got a bit more time to Sunday to recover. And yeah, I'm looking forward to that."
