Tom Pidcock continued his incredible rise up the cycling ranks with a first senior win for Team Wiggins in the second round of the 2018 HSBC UK | Spring Cup Series.
Wiggins won the East Cleveland Klondike last season with Chris Latham and repeated the trick this season as Pidcock, just 18, got the better of JLT-Condor’s Tom Moses in a two-up sprint to the line in Guisborough.
The reigning world junior time trial champion and former world junior cyclo-cross champion, Pidcock was racing the British Cycling Junior Men’s Road Series just last season but has made the step into the senior ranks with aplomb.
"In the middle of the race I was feeling really bad."
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) April 29, 2018
I bet there's plenty of people out there who could ride like @tompid on a bad day!
Hear what the East Cleveland Klondike winner had to say after crossing the line #SpringCup pic.twitter.com/kL3pGqfQmk
Trio break away
The 159.3km race, centring around Guisborough, saw the field take on three laps of a larger circuit around East Cleveland before finishing with one lap of a shorter loop.
And it was a break of three that got away in the first half hour of racing with two teams represented as Erick Rowsell and Connor Swift made it for Madison Genesis, while Wiggins’ Joey Walker completed the trio.
And that was the story of the first 120km of the race as they continued to ride away from the peloton, establishing more than a four-minute advantage at the half way mark.
The second time up the King of the Mountains mark at Saltburn marked the turning point, though, with ONE Pro Cycling pressing the accelerator and quickly making a dent in the leaders’ advantage.
By the time the leaders came to the third time up the climb – all of which were taken by Rowsell – it was just he and Walker that were out front and the summit marked the end of the break.
The Toms launch a counter attack
With the peloton catching the break as they crested the climb it was Moses and Madison Genesis' Jonathan McEvoy on the front who launched a counter attack, bringing Pidcock with them.
Initially three chase groups formed, with these consolidating to a group of 12 and a group of six, but the chase never looked like bringing the front three back.
The first time-check was 41 seconds over the chasers with 20km to go, before that went up to 80 seconds with just 10km remaining.
With the peloton a further minute behind it was clear that the winner would come from the breakaway and when Moses launched an attack with six kilometres to go he seemed to have the best legs.
Pidcock got back on but that acceleration did for McEvoy as the two Toms worked well together to make the final kilometres with a five second gap over the Madison Genesis man.
And when it came down to the final sprint it was the youngster who had too much for Moses, with Pidcock making it consecutive Wiggins wins in East Cleveland - McEvoy coming in third to make the final step of the podium.
Thumbs up for the victory @Tompid#WIGGINS pic.twitter.com/rT3ZVAK011
— Wiggins (@OfficialWIGGINS) April 29, 2018
Results
2018 HSBC UK | Spring Cup Series Standings
Gallery
