Tom Pidcock on white ‘shit’ after Tour crash: 'What are they doing to the roads?'

The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider was one of several competitors to lose control in the same corner, with teammate Chris Harper and Visma | Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson also going down.

Tour organisers had applied a white coating to sections of the road in an attempt to stop the asphalt from becoming dangerously hot. According to Pidcock, however, the substance made the surface particularly difficult to judge.

“I did not expect the road to be like that,” Pidcock told Eurosport after the finish. “I do not know what they do with the roads here, but they had put all this white shit on them. It was really slippery, especially in the descents.”

Pidcock said his bike slipped away without warning as he was already committed to the corner.

“I crashed right in the middle of the turn and then had to chase,” he explained. “The damage does not seem too bad. I feel fine at the moment, but we will have to see how everything feels later and what the checks show.”

Despite the fall and the effort required to return to the race, Pidcock finished ninth, just under two minutes behind stage winner Tadej Pogačar. He also moved into tenth place in the general classification.

The initial assessment suggested that Pidcock had escaped with little more than cuts and abrasions, although both rider and team were cautious about drawing conclusions while the adrenaline was still wearing off.

Pidcock’s coach Kurt Bogaerts confirmed that loose material or the treatment on the road appeared to have caused the crash.

“He slid out in the corner where three or four riders came down,” Bogaerts said to In de Leiderstrui. “Jorgenson fell there and Chris Harper also crashed. Chris actually went down much harder than Tom.”

Harper was able to complete the stage, although he crossed the line more than half an hour behind Pogacar.

Bogaerts explained that Pinarello-Q36.5 had identified the descent as a place where positioning would be important. Pidcock had reached the summit close to the front of the group, but the condition of the corner was difficult to anticipate.

“There was loose material on the road, possibly because of the heat,” Bogaerts said. “It was in a place where the riders did not expect it. We wanted Tom to start the descent in a good position and I think he was fourth or fifth over the top.”

While the crash disrupted Pidcock’s race, Bogaerts was encouraged by the Briton’s climbing performance. Before the final selection, Pidcock had been only a few seconds behind the group containing Jonas Vingegaard.

“The important part of the race happened on the penultimate climb,” Bogaerts said. “Tom was only eight seconds behind the Vingegaard group. If he makes that connection, he is probably riding for a top five result. Compared with the Tourmalet stage, that is a very big step forward.”

Pidcock shared that sense of progress. He acknowledged that Pogacar was operating on another level, but took confidence from being able to race closer to the front.

“I am getting stronger,” he said. “I could not follow Isaac on the final climb, but it was good to be racing near the front. It is much more enjoyable when you are not suffering for the entire day.”

The immediate priority will be recovery. Pidcock and his team will use the next two stages to assess the consequences of the crash before deciding whether to pursue another result from a breakaway.

“We first need to make sure he recovers properly,” Bogaerts said. “Then we have to get through the next couple of days and see which opportunities come after that.”