'Proud, but frustrated' - Tom Pidcock rues misfortune during cyclocross World Cup return

Tom Pidcock found himself frustrated at missing out on a win in his cyclocross world champion's jersey at the Overijse World Cup race in Belgium on Sunday. 

A win in the rainbow bands eluded Pidcock after a difficult afternoon which saw him suffer with a stack of issues including jammed gears, a heavy crash and a broken shoe. Even with the adversity he faced, Pidcock still managed to pull himself back into contention landing second place on a muddy afternoon in Belgium. 

Pidcock’s misfortune came at the start and the end of the World Cup race, before and after a stunning surge from the back of the field which saw him go toe to toe with Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) for the win. 

As soon as the race began, Pidcock found himself out the back with a bike issue. Then a crash on the penultimate lap was the final of a series of misfortune which saw him forced to settle for second. 

Despite the incidents, Pidcock saw the positives in his performance. 

“I can be proud, but it was very frustrating,” he said.

He expanded on the mechanical problems he experienced: “My gears got jammed. I don't know why - it's a bit strange. I had to get the chain out, then I look up... we've done five seconds of racing and I'm already last, so I was thinking 'ah this is gonna be a hard day'," he explained. 

The Yorkshireman fought back to pull himself back through the field and into contention, and by the end of the second lap of the course he had joined the early front runners. 

However, disaster struck again and he found himself on the floor after slipping on a cobbled section. 

“I came off the dirt onto the cobbles, my wheel slipped, and I fell right on the cobbles," Pidcock said. 

“I think I'm going to be pretty sore in the morning."

Pidcock explained that as well as potential injury, he also found himself struggling to keep his shoe on as he traipsed through the mud. 

“My shoe broke, so I was struggling running. It was coming off every time I stood in the mud," he said. 

Being so close to victory, Pidcock said that not even a broken shoe was going to stop him trying to take the win: “It was a difficult two laps but I thought 'I can't give up, I've got to try and get a win in this jersey'."

It was an afternoon of disappointment for the Leeds-born rider, then, although Pidcock explained that he could see the positives in his performance after seventh the previous day in the Merksplaas, Superprestige race in Belgium. 

"I can be pleased, from yesterday I'm much more used to the race pace and the technical parts," he said. "I can be pleased but it would have been nice to get my hands in the air."