Despite making it back in time from injury to start Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) is hoping to "go under the radar" as an outsider during the Monument Classic, knowing full well that he's still not back to his best shape.
Having arrived in Belgium yesterday from his return to racing at the Tour of the Alps, where he took a stage win, Pidcock isn't rating his chances too highly against the three top favourites, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM).
"I think, like every year, there's one guy that everyone is looking at, there's two guys who are quite close, and then I think I'm not really counting on my shape being that amazing," said Pidcock at the team presentation in Liège's Place Saint-Lambert on the eve of the race.
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"I'm going to try to hide and see what I can do. Everyone wants to try and be in the race, and the race will happen on La Redoute most likely; it's just about the legs for who will follow."
Pidcock has finished in the top 10 of the past three editions of La Doyenne and was second behind Evenepoel in 2023, but he reiterated the same realism when it came to his chances of victory as he came through the mixed zone.
Asked if he was the hidden favourite for Liège by Sporza, Pidcock laughed and said, "No, I don't think so."
"I made the best of the situation in the Alps, that's for sure. Tomorrow I'm going to be trying to stay under the radar; hopefully, you don't see me, and then maybe I'll get a result in the end. But tomorrow, I think everything will show. I don't feel really my best, but I will see what I can do."
Pidcock's mood has been positive, perhaps knowing that with his current condition, still only a month on from his horror crash into a ravine at the Volta a Catalunya, he shouldn't expect too much of himself, nor is there excess pressure to perform.
Still asked to give a percentage chance of victory for the 260km Ardennes Classic, Pidcock smiled again and said, "Not very big, I wouldn't bet on me. I wouldn't put me in your fantasy team for tomorrow."
Even if a podium isn't reachable on Sunday, Pidcock has noted the importance of getting back to racing after suffering a knee injury in northern Spain, with the chances of racing between now and his return to the Tour de France running out.
His improvement was steady throughout the Tour of the Alps, which was clear, but he's got a lot more performance to eke out before the Grand Départ in Barcelona, and racing against the very best in Liège should play a role in getting back to firing on all cylinders again.
"Every day I've been getting better. It was tough getting back into racing with so much time off the bike and so little time training again. I can be daily positive tomorrow – I'm not expecting any fireworks – but hopefully just no explosions out the back," he told CyclingProNet.
He did say there is "no chance," he's back to his pre-crash shape ahead of Catalunya, "But I think it's a positive that I'm already on the start line here, so I'll just see what I can get out of the race tomorrow."
"This was the big last goal of the first part of the season, so I think also mentally, it's nice that I've been able to keep – OK it's been a bit interrupted – but the same schedule. Now I can have a little time off and reset before preparing for the Tour de France. Otherwise, it would have been a long time until I next raced."
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