In a race as big as the Tour de France, there are no such things as minor targets, and if TV viewers of stage 13 were surprised to see Bahrain Victorious engaged in a tenacious pursuit of the break of the day long after any chance of a victory was possible, there was always going to be a good reason.
The reason, as Bahrain confirmed to reporters after the stage, was none other than the presence of Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) in the break, previously tenth on GC, more than 11 minutes down on yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
