Tom Pidcock Finishes Sixth at Gravel Worlds a Day After Lombardy, 'Totally Unprepared

Tom Pidcock has had an extremely tough weekend. On Saturday, he finished sixth in the Giro di Lombardia, and on Sunday he also took sixth place at the Gravel World Championships in South Limburg. The Brit told WielerFlits after the gravel race why he chose to do the tough double.

"It was chaos from the start," Pidcock began his story. "There were people everywhere, feed zones everywhere. I didn’t know anything about the race or the route," Pidcock admitted. "It was just chaos the whole day. But it was fun. I’m glad I did it. Of course, I was totally unprepared. That affected me. But I definitely enjoyed it."

419 kilometers, 6099 meters of elevation, two disciplines
So on Saturday Pidcock finished the Giro di Lombardia. How were his legs the next day? "Not bad actually. I can’t really complain. I don’t know if Lombardia really impacted my form today. Honestly, I felt okay. We’ll never know."

The Gravel World Championship was a completely different race — with a completely different peloton — than the Giro di Lombardia, according to Pidcock. "You had to constantly position yourself here. The first two hours are the most important. After that, it’s more about the legs," said the 26-year-old all-rounder, who rode 419 kilometers over two days with a total of 6099 meters of climbing, split over two disciplines.

'Why not?'
Why did Pidcock decide to do the combination, even though the double is tough and there’s a tiring trip in between? "Why not? I like to do things differently. Besides, Pinarello has a new gravel bike, so it’s good that I got to race on it this year. I did my best. I knew it would be hard because we focused more on Saturday, so yes: that’s why. It’s not ideal, but who cares?"