Tom Pidcock has taken control in the under-23 Giro d’Italia with a big stage win on stage four.
The 21-year-old Brit rode to an emphatic victory on a tough mountain day in Italy on Tuesday (September 2), which also puts him into the overall lead with a comfortable margin.
After narrowly missing out on stage honours on day two, just falling short in the sprint, Pidcock was back on the offensive on stage four from Bonferraro di Sorga to Bolca over a mountainous 159km.
The Yorkshireman made it into the front group of the race and was the second rider over the penultimate climb at La Collina, with one climb just under 10km-long to contend with.
Pidcock then attacked solo and went clear from his rivals, pulling out a 30-second advantage on the chasers with 3km left to race.
By the finish, Pidcock held a 22-second advantage over Italy’s Kevin Colleoni (Biesse Arvedi).
With that result, Trinity Racing Team rider Pidcock jumped two places into the overall lead and has a 58-second gap to second place Colleoni with four stages still to race.
The Giro Ciclistico d’Italia, also known as the Baby Giro, is a prestigious race for under-23 riders with a list of winners who have gone on to be successful pros at WorldTour leave.
Last year it was won by UAE Team Emirates rider Andres Camilo Ardila, while previous editions have also been won by Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) and Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates).
Pidcock has been continuing his development as a multi-discipline rider in 2020, taking a podium in the cyclocross World Cup in Switzerland in February, then moving onto the mountain bike after the coronavirus lockdown and now returning to road.
Last month he split his efforts in the European Championships, finishing fourth in the under-23 time trial in Plouay but then stepping up to the elite men’s team for the road race.
>>> Primož Roglič proves strongest with mountain victory on stage four of Tour de France 2020
Despite an enormous last-ditch attack in the very final of the race, Pidcock slipped back to 55th place.
Chinese X-Lab vies for global domination as it equips XDS Astana with bikes for the WorldTour
Tech of the week: Van Rysel releases an aero bike (quelle surprise!) plus a superlight carbon crankset from FSA, a long top tube bag from Tailfin and tyre liners from Zefal
