Tom Pidcock dodges crashes on Volta ao Algarve opener with TT aims on the horizon

The first day of any stage race is a fraught and often tense affair, and stage 1 of this year’s Volta ao Algarve was no different. At the start in Portimão riders wore worried expressions due to the potential of cross-winds, and while those concerns dissipated during the day, a litany of crashes kept everyone on their toes.

In the end, the majority of the GC contenders came through unscathed with Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) finishing in the same time as the stage winner Gerben Thijssen. Mission accomplished for the British rider on his first road race of the calendar year.

Read more:

• Volta ao Algarve: Gerben Thijssen wins stage 1 in bunch sprint
• 10 riders to watch at the Volta ao Algarve

The all-rounder is making his second successive appearance in Algarve having won a stage and finished seventh overall in 2023 but this year’s race has taken on more significance for the 24-year-old with a greater emphasis on the road than ever before.

“I felt exactly the same as last year. It was really easy but really hard. It’s not just riding along, you’ve got to sprint out of corners. I almost died on the last descent and I didn’t crash. So it was alright,” Pidcock told GCN as he began to warm down outside the Ineos bus.

“There were a few crashes. There was one with around 3km to go and then one just before the final roundabout. I think that me and Remco [Evenepoel] just got through there.”

In last year’s race, Pidcock won the penultimate stage atop the Alto do Malhão and went into the final stage wearing the leader’s jersey. He stumbled in the time trial, finishing 19th, and dropping to seventh in the final standings. This year’s race offers something of a redemption for the Ineos rider with a 22km individual test on stage 4. Evenepoel will start as the unquestionable favourite for the stage but Pidcock will be looking to finish as close as possible to the Belgian and hold his own against several other GC candidates.

“I’ve been working hard on my time trial, so I want to do a good time trial. That’s important and then I want to win the last stage again. Like I did last year,” he said.

With the Tour de France on his bucket list for the year, and his coach suggesting to GCN over the winter that a top-five is possible, Pidcock will want to lay down an important marker here in Algarve. His time trial will certainly not define any meaning within his long and complex season but there’s important morale to be gained by setting his stake out early and building some early season momentum.

“I’ve spent a lot of time on it. It’s the one discipline where you can’t skimp on it. If you want to do well on the time trial bike then you need to spend time on it. I’ve done a lot of training sessions on it, and we’ve done a few sessions on the velodrome. We rode the TT course yesterday, Tuesday, and we’ll see how it goes. It was a bit technical but it’ll be quite easy to improve on last year’s time trial, that’s for sure.”

The winter has been a busy period for Pidcock. He cut down on his cyclo-cross commitments to ready for the road season but still raced off-road at several points, and even took in a mountain bike win last weekend in Spain. There was a spell of sickness, which meant a period of rest during the last few months, but overall he’s come out of winter in a better shape, and seemingly a better state of mind.

“I spent a month at altitude and that was a consistent block there. That was good. The ‘cross wasn’t ideal because I was feeling under the weather. I did a bit of longer prep in Belgium with bad weather and then there was a bit of sickness at camp that I carried through that period. Since then I’ve reset back in Andorra and had a really consistent training since then,” he said.

I didn’t want to take any of the mental energy away from myself this year in the ‘cross. I don’t know if I’ll do that again. For me to be good in ‘cross I need to be in it properly and not at 95 per cent, because then I make mistakes and I can’t compete like I did the year before. Maybe I’ll change that in the future.”

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