Tom Pidcock aims to go ‘a step further’ at Tour de France 2023
Ineos' Rod Ellingworth says British rider ‘still has some work to do’ in order to make GC push main objective
Tom Pidcock hopes to "go a step further" at the Tour de France this year, according to Ineos Grenadiers' deputy team principal Rod Ellingworth.
The 23-year-old "can't fail really" according to Ellingworth, but still has some work to do to be a contender for general classification.
Pidcock’s maiden outing at the Tour last year was a huge success. The Leeds-born rider capped his first Tour appearance with a stage win on Alpe d’Huez and wore the white jersey of the best young rider for several days too.
Speaking to the media before the Tour Grand Départ, which takes place in Bilbao on Saturday, Ellingworth explained that he believes Ineos’ young star ‘still has some work to do’ before mounting a serious GC challenge but that he may look to go ‘a step further’ this time out.
“I think he’s still got some work to do to be a general contender for the GC, that’s for sure,” Ellingworth said. “It’s like a stepping stone towards his future dreams and ambitions, he’s certainly got ambitions in the Tour but as we’ve agreed with him, he’s got some other objectives he wants to achieve on that journey too.
“He would certainly like to go a step further than his achievements last year, let’s say that. As a debutant last year winning a stage was a huge start. To be honest with you, I think he really felt how big the Tour was for the first time and I think it really got him engaged in the Tour and got him thinking actually I’d love to be part of this in the bigger picture.
"That was really good for us and got him really motivated.”
Ellingworth touched on Pidcock’s sensational start to the 2023 season which saw him win Strade Bianche and finish third and second respectively at Amstel Gold Race and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. However, he explained that Pidcock had not had the run into the Tour that he would have liked.
“He’s had a bloody good year, three podiums in three one-day races, the mountain bike programme that he ran was successful, just he wasn’t that good in the Tour de Suisse and wasn’t as good as he wanted to be in Suisse,” he said.
“Although this is where I feel these guys can’t fail really, every step is a learning curve. He’s at that point in his career where even when he takes a knock it’s a moment of right, reflect on yourself and then move on.”
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to see a better Tom Pidcock than what we saw in Suisse," Ellingworth said. "He was actually going quite well, he just got it a bit wrong going in and paid the price.”
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Tom joined Cycling Weekly in early 2022 and his news stories, rider interviews and features appear both online and in the magazine.
He has reported from some of professional cycling's biggest races and events including the Tour de France and the recent Glasgow World Championships. He has also covered races elsewhere across the world and interviewed some of the sport's top riders.
When not writing news scoops from the WorldTour, or covering stories from elsewhere in the domestic professional scene, he reports on goings on at bike shops up and down the UK, where he is based when not out on the road at races. He has also appeared on the Radio Cycling podcast.
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