'I wouldn't have beaten Tadej anyway' – Tom Pidcock frustrated by mechanical in crucial moment at Strade Bianche

There were tears in Tom Pidcock’s eyes in the Piazza del Campo at the end of Strade Bianche. Tears of frustration, brought on by an untimely bike mechanical, and also, in his words, a feeling of "sombreness" following another display of Tadej Pogačar dominance.

The Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling rider was one of the few to be with the world champion on the Monte Sante Marie sector with 79km to go of the race, and briefly appeared able to follow the Slovenian, until his chain slipped and the race was gone.

Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) then rode away for his fourth title – his third in a row – while Pidcock finished seventh, having expended his energy chasing back.

“I think you can feel a bit of sombreness here with everyone, with Visma behind me as well,” Pidcock told TNT Sports post-race, moments after exchanging a resigned look and greeting with Matteo Jorgenson of Visma-Lease a Bike.

“With UAE like that, there’s not much you can do. My chain fell off twice on Sante Marie, that really killed my momentum, but I wouldn’t have beaten Tadej anyway.

“I don’t think it changed much apart from taking a bit more out of me. It’s so difficult in the group behind when you know the race has gone. You can always think this is just the race now, but it’s not really how it is, when one guy’s in front.”

It had been a day of UAE Team Emirates-XRG domination. The team set such a pace through the day that no-one could escape the peloton, and orchestrated the race perfectly for Pogačar’s escape on the Sante Marie. In the end, it was the world champion that finished it off, but he was helped to that point by Jan Christen, Florian Vermeersch, Isaac del Toro and others. Once Pogačar was alone, a sense of inevitability descended on the race, despite there still being two hours left.

Did Pidcock ever feel that the gap could be closed? “At one point, yeah,” he said. “But I think that’s a pretty big gap when people are thinking about the final.”

With 17km to go, Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) slipped off the front, followed by Del Toro, and with the move went Pidcock's shot at a podium.

The British rider still remains the last person not called Tadej Pogačar to win Strade Bianche, doing so in 2023. If the Slovenian keeps coming back to the Tuscan Classic, it's hard to see that statistic changing.