Tom Pidcock has been one of the strongest riders of the past couple of weeks, and the question of whether he can win Il Lombardia is perhaps not a question of legs but of tactics.
The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider kicked off his late-season one-day campaign with victory at the GP Industria & Artigianato, but since then he has suffered a string of near misses, at the GP de Québec (4th), GP de Montréal (6th), World Championships (7th), Giro dell’Emilia (2nd), and Tre Valli Varesine (2nd).
"I like to think so, but I made a few mistakes the last week," Pidcock, speaking at the Il Lombardia teams presentation in Bergamo on Friday evening, said in relation to his usually-sharp ability to read a race.
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"I think it’ll be a bit of tactical game. Maybe some energy for the end will be important."
As for what those mistakes were and the lessons he’s learned, he added: "I think that I have stronger legs than perhaps I thought. And sometimes, I just need to control the race myself and not rely on others."
Pidcock, in some ways, has already done just that. In fact, over the past couple of weeks he has established himself as arguably the most honest, and dare we say generous, rider in action right now.
At the World Championships he was arguably the most committed rider in the group that was dithering so dramatically behind the lone leader Brandon McNulty. A few days ago, at the Giro dell’Emilia, he led the chase of Davide Piganzoli on his own in the final kilometre, burning riders off his wheel and not caring that Oscar Onley was still sucking it. And when Matteo Jorgenson initially refused to pull through in the winning move at Tre Valli Varesine, he made his exasperation abundantly clear.
"I think a lot of eyes have been on me in last races and I need to learn how to deal with that sometimes," Pidcock said in Bergamo.
"It’s not easy. But yeah, it’s also a sign of respect, that guys think I’m strong enough to ride like that."
Pidcock’s season won’t end at Il Lombardia – he’s off to the Tour of Guangxi stage race next week – but it’s the final big objective of what has been a busy year that has seen him win a World Championship title on the mountain bike in the middle of his road season.
"I definitely feel it’s been a long year but I feel good at the same time," he said.
"I’ve been listening to my body quite well, taking the rest where I need it, and I think the result is that I’m in great shape now and hopefully I can make the most of it."
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