'I feel super good' – GC Tom Pidcock continues to impress at Vuelta a España

For all his success, Tom Pidcock has never finished in the top 10 overall at a Grand Tour. This is what he overtly came to this Vuelta a España to do, to take aim at a high finish on general classification in his second Grand Tour this season.

In fact, Q36.5 Pro Cycling's Pidcock has never been higher than fifth on GC mid-race at a Grand Tour, something which has changed this week with the 26-year-old up to fourth overall. While he is almost a minute behind red jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), it has been a very promising opening 10 days.

Sunday's stage nine was only the third time that the man from Leeds has finished in the top two on a Grand Tour stage, after his famous win on Alpe d’Huez three years ago at the Tour de France, and the gravel stage in the same race last year.

On stage 10, another mountain top finish, Pidcock led the GC contenders in, defending his fourth place overall, and giving himself more confidence. The Yorkshireman seems relaxed in his new guise, and seemingly comfortable mixing it with more established Grand Tour names.

"It was good," he explained to reporters. "I was feeling good today again, we have nothing to lose, we are here to try and win. We need to try, and tomorrow is another day.

"Today I backed up my ride the other day, so the more I do that the more confidence I have."

While other contenders have fallen behind, Pidcock has remained solid, advancing up the leaderboard, to be there among elevated company, in Vingegaard and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). He trails Almeida by 20 seconds, but leads other GC riders like Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) by over a minute.

Stage nine and 10 were the best evidence yet for Pidcock the GC rider, something which still remains a bit of an unknown at a three-week race. He has finished 13th at the Tour before, but any kind of top 10 here would be a significant result. A top five would be a level above, again.

"The start was super fast, but it wasn’t that hard in the wheels to be honest," he explained. "There are a lot of tired bodies, you can see that by the size of the peloton. The climb was pretty tough but it wasn’t too bad in the end.

"I feel super good. After a performance like I did on Sunday, it fills me with confidence, so the more that happens the better I feel."

This is a world away from the Giro d'Italia, which Pidcock raced in May, where he finished 16th overall and wasn't in the GC top 10 after the opening day.

"We knew that the Giro was a probability, but I said I wouldn’t change my plans, I’d do the Classics and the Ardennes and whatever," Pidcock said. "I didn’t want to sacrifice any of that. The Giro was too much I think, I was not fresh, I was not ready, but here’s different."

Wednesday sees a Classics-style stage around Bilbao, which would typically suit the Q36.5 rider. "I looked at it a bit, I don’t know it fully. I think it’s going to be a hard one, that’s for sure," he predicted.