Pidcock thinking big after Tour stage win

Historic victory on Alpe d'Huez kindles dreams of Grand Tour glory

- Vern Pitt, Chris Marshall-Bell

Tom Pidcock has been on a journey. It's a journey that started before the Tour de France Grand Départ in Denmark but entered a crucial phase on the 13km up Alpe d'Huez last Thursday.

Ahead of the race, Pidcock told Cycling Weekly: "My dream in sport has always been to create a legacy, and that involves the biggest bike races. Over the next years we'll see what that means and what is possible."

Then, with humility, he added: "I think it's possible to finish on the podium at the Tour, but to win it... especially with Tadej Pogačar... he can ride a bike fast."

Sitting atop Alpe d'Huez after having become the youngest rider to win on the iconic climb, that vague and far-off wish seemed to have solidified into something more concrete. "I have bigger ambitions in this race in the future for sure after this experience," he said with authority.

Just over 48 hours earlier, Pidcock told Cycling Weekly that he'd "exceeded expectations" by being in the top 10 on GC (he'd fall out of it the following day). "To be in the top 10 on GC after we've already had a few tests - I'm quite pleased with that," he said. Expectations for the future appeared to have moved higher.

As CW went to press, and the race entered its final rest day, he was sitting ninth in the general classification.

Ineos Grenadiers deputy team principal Rod Ellingworth certainly felt Pidcock was being realistic in thinking about a future GC challenge, saying: "Tom's a big performer, and he loves the big stage... You can't say he can't win the Tour de France in the future, I think it's possible, of course it is. I say that off the back of our experience.

"At 22 you would have never have said Geraint [Thomas] was going to win the Tour. Things have changed now, though, because we've won it quite a few times and we know the routine a little bit more, but still you never know."