Ineos Grenadiers team manager Rod Ellingworth had hoped that one of his young riders could finish in the top five at the 2023 Tour de France. Tom Pidcock endured a difficult weekend in the Alps and dropped to 12th but Carlos Rodriguez won in Morzine and is up to third overall and aiming high for the final week and the road to Paris.
Pidcock has predicted an aggressive last week of the Tour, with the battle for general classification tantalisingly close between Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). But he, Rodriguez and Ineos Grenadiers want to be in the fight alongside.
Rodriguez has a 19-second buffer on Pogacar’s teammate Adam Yates in the general classification with Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) 1:17 adrift of the Spaniard in fifth.
“We knew coming into the race there were two hot favourites but that podium was open,” Ellingworth said.
“We didn’t really know, but we did say we think one of the guys is capable of top five, and who knows what can happen in the Tour now.”
The Tour resumes on Tuesday with a hilly time trial that Ellingworth believes will be decisive, followed by the queen stage on Wednesday that includes the Col de la Loze, which at 2304m is the highest point of the 110th edition of the Tour de France.
Rodriguez had an interrupted lead-up to the Tour, which limited specific preparations for the race against the clock and that appears to be a concern for Ineos Grenadiers.
“Carlos has been restricted because he broke his collarbone in Strade Bianche and it was quite a bad break and took him a bit longer,” Ellingworth said.
“With a collarbone you can’t do the work with a TT bike. Then he got knocked off by a car and damaged his knee and that took longer than he wanted. So, he’s been quite compromised in his preparation.
“If you think about Carlos, he’s had some good time trials, he’s had some not so good time trials,” Ellingworth continued.
“But he’s not thinking about the podium though. He’s like, ‘Yeah okay, it would be nice, but I’m not thinking God, I’m going to chase the podium’ if you like. He’s just sticking to his plan, which is doing the best he can every day.”
Yates improved his position in the general classification, after riding away from Pogacar on Mont Blanc, while Hindley felt the injuries he sustained in a mass crash on stage 14. Rodriguez won on Saturday and so was able to eat into the Australian’s GC margin and move above him.
“My suspicion would be Adam will perhaps time trial a bit better than Carlos I would think, off history, so we shall see,” Ellingworth predicted.
“Adam is going really well. That’s clear. It depends I suppose what Adam has to do for Pogacar in the finals or whatever. We’ll just take it day by day, take what we get now.”
Ineos Grenadiers were able to enjoy the second rest day in the Alps on Monday after taking back to back stage victories on Friday and Saturday with Kwiatkowski on Bastille Day on the Grand Colombier, before Rodriguez won in Morzine on Saturday.
The British team lost Daniel Martinez to a crash and concussion, but otherwise proved to be one of the strongest teams at the 2023 Tour, if in the shadows and the dominance of Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates.
“Kwiatkowski’s win was brilliant, his performance was fantastic, he climbed as quick as some of the others, was really quick, and then Carlos’ performance was just a brilliant opportunity. He just took the chance didn’t he,” Ellingworth said in praise, especially of the young Spaniard.
“He’s steady in every moment of his life. Everything is measured and steady. He fits that Grand Tour style in that way. But it’s all about him getting stronger, that’s the main thing now.”
Pidcock won a stage atop Alpe d’Huez last year but has committed to working for his teammate for the remainder of the Tour, after a hunger flat and the heat on stage 14 cost him his top 10 place on the overall standings.
“It’s great when it’s all going well but when things don’t go exactly how you planned then yeah, it’s harder,” Pidcock said on the second rest day.
“Mistakes were bound to happen, to be made. That’s what happened a couple of days ago and I’m suffering a bit from it but live and learn. We’ve still got another week.
“First of all, we’ve got a time trial so get through that and then this queen stage is going to be pretty brutal. And then there’s stage 20 as well, which could be an all-out war with how the GC looks.
“Before I had the freedom to completely explore my own capabilities but now of course I’ve fallen off GC, Carlos is now in third,” Pidcock continued.
“So, I think we’ve got to do everything we can to keep him there. I’m not the most experienced at pacing people up climbs or getting bottles or whatever but I’ll do my best of what I can do.”
