At the end of this year’s Giro d’Italia Tom Pidcock was frustrated. The experience of his fifth grand tour wasn’t terrible: he finished 16th overall, with a collection of top-ten finishes on stages. But when he spoke to The Independent in Rome, every positive sentence discussing his race felt like it came with an unspoken “but…”. The race was a missed opportunity, and Pidcock felt it keenly.
Things feel very different now. With three stages remaining at the Vuelta a Espana, Pidcock is poised for the best result at a grand tour in his entire career. Third going into the final weekend behind two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard and his rival Joao Almeida, Pidcock has well and truly arrived as a grand tour racer.
