'There's not much you can do' - Pidcock's honest reflection after Pogacar's Strade Bianche domination

Tom Pidcock was frank in his assessment at the finish in Siena, highlighting the brutal nature of coming up against a team as dominant as UAE Team Emirates-XRG, which is spearheaded by the irrepressible force that is Pogačar. The team's strength was underlined by Isaac del Toro finishing thrid and Jan Christen coming home in sixth.

“I think you could feel a bit of, like, sombreness with everyone, with Visma there behind as well. 
I think with UAE like that, there's not much you can do,” Pidcock told TNT Sports after the finish.

The British rider was in the perfect position on the world champion’s wheel, as UAE wound up the pace for the inevitable Pogačar attack on the Monte Sante Marie with 80km remaining. Unfortunately for Pidcock, mechanical issues at this point in the race hindered him, but he doesn’t think that it would have made much difference in terms of fighting for the win, with the supreme level of Pogačar.

“My chain fell off twice on [Monte] Sante Marie, and that really killed my momentum there, but I wouldn't have been with Tadej [Pogačar] anyway, I think,” said Pidcock. “I don't think it changed the race much, apart from taking a bit more out of me.”

With Pogačar operating in his own sphere, Pidcock was engulfed in a battle for the podium behind, and the British rider looked strong as he tried to break free of a strong chase group multiple times. 

Ultimately, with the UAE duo of Isaac del Toro and Jan Christen present, it was difficult to stay away, and with the win seemingly out of sight, the motivation to cooperate in the group dwindled.

“It's so difficult, when you're in the group behind, when you know the race is gone,” said Pidcock. “I mean, you can always think ‘Oh, this is just the race now,’ but, yeah, it's not really how it is when one guy is in front.”

Eventually, Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) caused a permanent split in the chase group, accelerating clear with Del Toro on the final ascent of Colle Pinzuto. Pidcock was with Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) as part of the third group of the road.

“Then on the Colle Pinzuto, I don't know why I was too far back and yeah it wasn't really that fun to be honest, said Pidcock, who was also asked if he ever believed the chasing group could catch Pogačar when the gap shrunk by around 30 seconds for a brief spell.

“At one point, yeah, but I think that's a pretty big gap when people are thinking about the final and stuff and yeah, I ran out of legs in the final as well,” said Pidcock.

Pidcock’s seventh-place finish means that he has finished in the top seven in all five of his appearances at the Italian Classic, including his victory on the white roads of Tuscany in 2023. 

The British rider is set to continue action in Italy at Milano-Torino on March 18, before taking on Milan-San Remo on March 21, where Pogačar will be looking to win for the first time in his career.