‘Handing over the baton’ as Tom Pidcock marks ‘big day for British cycling’ at Tour de France – Bradley Wiggins
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ByEurosport
Updated 15/07/2022 at 09:27 GMT
Speaking on his Europsort podcast, The Bradley Wiggins Show, Bradley Wiggins was full of praise for the way Tom Pidcock rode, particularly during the descent of Alpe d'Huez. He was joined by Matt Stephens and the pair discussed the great day for British cycling as well as what cyclo-cross riders are bringing to road racing at the moment.
Stage 12 highlights: Pidcock soars, Froome stars, Vingegaard fends off Pogacar
Former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins has hailed Tom Pidcock’s historic Stage 12 win on Thursday as “a big day for British cycling” and that it felt like a “handing over of the baton.”
Pidcock produced a stunning ride on Alpe d’Huez to become the youngest rider to ever win a stage of the Tour.
And speaking on his Eurosport podcast, The Bradley Wiggins Show, Wiggins was joined by Matt Stephens to dissect the day, with both effusive in their praise for the 22-year-old.
“Still trying to get my head around it…” Wiggins began the show by saying. “Tom Pidcock, I mean what can you say about Tom Pidcock that hasn’t already been said? Other than that he’s living up the hype isn’t he?”
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‘This isn’t his full potential!’ – Pidcock has ‘another gear’ after Tour debut win
Stephens agreed: “We’ve talked about him being a potential Tour winner haven’t we, but every single race he does he goes to another level, another page is being turned.
“The whole day was a big day for British cycling but it was ushering in a new era perhaps?”
To which Wiggins was quick to praise two former winners, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, who finished third and seventh respectively.
“And also it was apt that we had Tom winning, Froomey third and then Geraint coming up behind him because I think it was a handing over of the baton wasn’t it? And he [Pidcock] would have been inspired by them [Froome and Thomas] as he was growing up wasn’t he? It was fantastic.”
Wiggins went on to say that he had run into Froome’s family in the hotel after the stage, and had congratulated him during their Facetime call. He reiterated something he has repeatedly said, that people have downplayed Froome’s injury the more time has passed since it happened.
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Pidcock in tears after winning on Alpe d’Huez
“I think Chris deserved that, it’s testament to where he’s come from and testament to him as an athlete, I don’t think people realise just quite how bad he was when he crashed. That’s a big day for him that, that shows he’s still a world-class rider on his day.”
Stephens echoed him adding: “Totally, and apparently he’s not far off the numbers he was putting out when he won the Tour.”
The pair then moved on to Pidcock’s thrilling descent with Wiggins calling it a “joy to watch” modern riders who have brought over skills from cyclo-cross.
“A lot of people thought it was borderline dangerous but he pushes the limits, and this new generation of riders,” said Stephens.
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Incredible scenes as Pidcock rides through fans on the Alpe d'Huez at Tour de France
“Well he controls it,” Wiggins interrupted. “And I was saying in the prologue he was doing it in the rain and the way he was taking the corners compared to other riders, and the projection he was getting out and the momentum he was carrying I said on TV it was a joy to watch someone handle their bike like he does.
“And there’s only a few riders who can do that, obviously it comes from a cyclo-cross background, Pogacar’s one because he was a national cyclo-cross champion wasn’t he? Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, it’s a joy to watch them transfer that to the road.”
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‘Not bad that, is it!’ – Pidcock on Alpe d’Huez heroics
Stephens added a fascinating point about tyre pressure, saying: “Going back to that TT bit about his ability to corner and the confidence that he has, he does generally run a slightly lower tyre pressure than everybody else because it gives him that extra little bit of grip and he’s light as well.
“So he’s running a lower pressure but because he’s so light it doesn’t actually make that much difference with rubber resistance, it just means he can corner, really bank it over and as you say do things that are almost superhuman and to a lot of people look dangerous, but clearly they’re not because from what I did see there were no sketchy moments, no locking up into a corner they’re all clean smooth lines.”
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