Tom Pidcock crossed the finish line of the GP de Montréal and puffed out his cheeks as he rolled to a stop next to the crowd’s clanging cowbells.
The WorldTour race provided a “super hard” dress rehearsal for the Pinarello Q36.5 leader. Using the same circuit as the World Championships road race, last Sunday’s 214km event allowed him to see the lap for the first time and gave an indication of the favourites.
Pidcock is one of them after carrying on his late summer momentum. He finished fourth in last Friday’s GP de Québec, won by Remco Evenepoel, and sixth in Montréal. “I was up there, I was racing. It was definitely worth coming [to Canada],” he told Cycling Weekly post-race.
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Given his form, the saw-blade puncheur’s profile and the absence of Tadej Pogačar, next Sunday’s race could be Pidcock’s best opportunity yet of an elite road race rainbow jersey.
“Probably, but I don’t think it’s the biggest chance in the world,” he said. “We’ll see: you don’t need to be the strongest to win the Worlds. Well, in the past [you did], maybe now it’s different.”
No “Pogi” means a more open race. “Tadej is the hardest rider to beat and he’s not here. Then the next best rider is less hard to beat,” Pidcock said earlier in the week.
The 26-year-old was a protagonist in Montréal, making a couple of attacks, but he could not follow a decisive acceleration by Paul Seixas and Isaac del Toro. The UAE Team Emirates XRG star won, out-sprinting the French prodigy.
“I attacked quite early a few times, probably earlier than other guys,” Pidcock said. ‘You really need legs the last two laps on this course. But it didn’t make much difference: Seixas and Del Toro showed they were the strongest. I think they’re the favourites for the Worlds.”
“It is going to be incredibly attritional,” he added. “It could be a bit of a group behind, especially if the race is longer [273 kilometres in distance] – people won’t be able to make the difference with being explosive.”
Cohesion and strength-in-depth will be important assets. Although Great Britain’s line-up was yet to be announced on Sunday, Pidcock told CW that Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) and Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) would be competing with him.
“It’s a good course for me, I’ve done well in the WorldTour race before,” 2023 GP de Montréal winner Yates told CW ahead of finishing 13th in this year’s edition. “I put my hand up [for it], we’ll have a good team and give it a crack.”
Asked whether he would be sole leader or co-leader, the veteran said: “We’re never going to be there as number one favourite so the more bodies you have in front in the final, the better your chance.”
