'It hurts to be close' - Pidcock misses out by just 4cm to Pogacar at Milan-Sanremo

Tom Pidcock is a rarity in the current peloton in that he always backed himself to compete against Tadej Pogačar despite the world champion’s historic levels of dominance. 

That defiance helped Pidcock to resist Pogačar’s attacks on the Cipressa and the Poggio at Milan-Sanremo, and it also meant he wasn’t quite ready to accept any accolades for his performance after losing out by centimetres in the two-up sprint on the Via Roma.

“Honestly, I need time to reflect because right now, I’m pretty disappointed,” Pidcock told Eurosport.

“It hurts to be so close. If it was Tadej alone and I was alone behind him, ok, I wouldn’t be very happy, but I was told it was four centimetres and that hurts quite a lot that it was so close. Obviously, I lost to Tadej, he’s one of the best cyclists ever, so I can’t be disappointed – but I can’t help it.”

There were echoes of their duel at last year’s Strade Bianche about this race, with Pogačar crashing in Imperia with 32km before chasing back on in dramatic fashion just as the Cipressa began. 

Pogačar’s torn kit showed the damage from that crash, but he still proceeded to launch his much-anticipated attack 2.5km from the top of the Cipressa, with Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel the only men able to follow. It was immediately clear that the day’s winner would come from this trio, and they crested the summit with a sizeable lead on the chasing peloton. 

“I felt amazing. Last year I was super disappointed because I crashed in the Cipressa and I knew I could have been there at the front, so it’s nice to be there this year, to show I’ve got the legs for that,” Pidcock said. 

“Like I said, I can’t help but be disappointed right now, to be so close to a Monument win. But I need to look at it from a wider perspective because I think what I did was quite amazing and I’m quite proud.”

When Pogačar took up the reins again on the lower slopes of the Poggio, Van der Poel – also a faller in Imperia – was surprisingly distanced, but Pidcock resisted his accelerations all the way to the top. Pogačar’s stop-start rhythm was designed to burn off Van der Poel, but it proved less effective against Pidcock’s climbing punch.

“I think on the Poggio, it was getting closer for Tadej to drop me, but the way he was riding, where he would attack for 30 seconds and then go easy and then go again, actually suited me quite well because it allowed me to recover a bit,” Pidcock said. “It was just about getting in the wheel and staying there – the same as when you go motor-pacing, you know.”

The pair descended together into Sanremo, where Pidcock smartly forced Pogačar to lead out the sprint. Both men dived for the line at the same time, with Pogačar doing just enough to claim the win. Unlike when he lost Amstel Gold Race to Wout van Aert in 2021, the photo finish wasn’t required here, but the disappointment was similar.

“Ask me in a couple of days in Catalunya, when I’ll have time to reflect,” Pidcock said when asked to describe the positives of his display, and he also revealed that he might never again have the chance to come back and beat Pogačar at Milan-Sanremo.

“Tadej said he’s not going to come back now he’s won. So what motorbike am I going to have now to sit behind?”