Tour de France: Tom Pidcock becomes youngest winner on Alpe d’Huez

Pidcock, 22, is extraordinary. That much we can agree on. By his standards, what he did on the road to Alpe d’Huez was just him expressing himself. Winning another race at the highest level. Of course, the theatre was grander, there were maybe half a million people on the mountain, but Pidcock won without stress. It is true too that this victory on the 12th stage happened in part because Pidcock, more than 11 minutes down, wasn’t seen as a threat.

Yet it is also true that the Ineos Grenadiers rider is just at the beginning of his Tour de France story. What takes him way above ordinary is his range. Olympic gold-medal winner in mountain biking, world class in cyclocross and there is nothing he can’t do on the road. This spectacular victory at the place where every climber dreams of winning won’t be his last at the Tour.

We’re learning too that he’s a smart racer. For 11 stages in this Tour, he was too close to the top of the general classification (GC) to escape unnoticed from the peloton. He knew though that he wasn’t riding well enough in the mountains to beat Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and his own teammate Geraint Thomas. On the torturous 12th stage to Col du Granon, he lost almost ten minutes.

Unable to keep up on the Granon, he didn’t dig too deep. “I lost time so I could get freedom today,” he said after his victory. Losing extra time the easy part, Pidcock was exceptional in the way he made his escape on the road to Alpe d’Huez. He had tried to get into an early break but Jumbo-Visma’s Primoz Roglic tracked him every time, a vigilance that hinted at the respect Pidcock is getting.

Over the top of the Col du Galibier, 2,642 metres above sea level, Pidcock attacked. His thinking was Jumbo’s riders wouldn’t want to take risks on the descent. Without some daredevilry, they were never going to stay with Pidcock. Off he went, thriving on a section of the race that was predominantly downhill.

Watching Pidcock descend was one of the joys of the Tour so far. He is a natural on a bike, flies into corners, accelerates out of them, and such is the technique, it never looks dangerous. Chris Froome had already broken away from the GC group and though the four-time winner descends well, he wasn’t eager to stay too close to Pidcock.

“He was flying on the descents,” Froome said. His bike handling and mountain biking came in handy. I definitely backed off a bit, because he was definitely pushing the limits.”

As Pidcock came upon Froome, it was like the future overtaking the past. Pidcock though slowed a little, Froome pressed a little and they came together, the younger and the older forming a little alliance that would help both join the breakaways upfront. Over the Col de Croix de la Fer, there was Pidcock, Froome, Louis Meintjes, Neilson Powless and Giulio Ciccone.

All five can climb and as they hit the first slopes of Alpe d’Huez, who could pick out the strongest? Soon, there was a hint in something Pidcock did. He had taken some food and rather than stuff the wrapper in his pocket, he spotted a refuge bag pinned to a pole by the side of the road. He aimed the wrapper and in it sailed. Stephen Curry on a bike.

Soon after, Pidcock thought he would test the water. More than 10 kilometres of the climb remained and away he went on a steep, steep section. Meintjes followed, then Froome. Powless and Ciccone. For a while Meintjes stayed close, three or four seconds back, but as Pidcock gradually increased the tempo the gaps widened.

He won by 48 seconds from Meintjes, 2min 6sec from Froome who was enjoying his best day on a bike since his horrific crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2019. Near the finish line at Alpe d’Huez, Pidcock shook his head before raising his arms. “It is certainly one of my best experiences in cycling, it was unreal,” he said. “When you are slaloming through people’s flags, fists and God knows what else, you can’t experience that anywhere else, in anything, other than on l’Alpe d’Huez at the Tour de France.

“It’s made my Tour. Even if something happens and I get dropped every day, I don’t care. A stage win at my first Tour, it’s not bad.”

After the riveting drama of the day before, this was a calmer day for the GC riders. With Vingegaard in the yellow jersey, Jumbo controlled the race efficiently. Those hoping for an interesting third week would have been encouraged by Pogacar’s performance. After losing his yellow jersey on the Col du Granon and falling 2:22 behind Vingegaard on GC, Pogacar was back to something like his best on Alpe d’Huez.

He twice attacked close to the end but Vingegaard countered quickly and impressively. It was another excellent day for Thomas who was the only one to stay with Vingegaard and Pogacar. That was enough to take him above Romain Bardet and into third on GC.

Vingegaard was happy to have survived his first day in yellow. “After yesterday, I didn’t have the best legs today,” he said. “Tadej attacked me a few times at the end and I would also expected him to. Luckily I was able to follow him every time and I’m happy with that.”

As for Pidcock, his victory on the Tour’s most iconic climb is a memory to cherish. It may also be the moment that convinces him to dedicate himself to winning this race. If he does that, then we have probably seen tomorrow’s winner in today’s race.

Leading positions
12th stage (Briançon to Alpe d’Huez, 165.5km): 1, T Pidcock (GB, Ineos Grenadiers) 4hr 55min 24sec;
2, L Meintjes (SA, Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux) at 48sec behind;
3, C Froome (GB, Israel-Premier Tech) 2min 6sec; 4, N Powless (US, EF Education-EasyPost) 2:29; 5, T Pogacar (Slovenia UAE Team Emirates) 3:23; 6, J Vingegaard (Den, Jumbo-Visma); 7, G Thomas (GB, INEOS Grenadiers) both same time;
12, A Yates (GB, INEOS Grenadiers) 4:01.
Overall 1, Vingegaard 46:28:46;
2, Pogacar at 2:22; 3, Thomas 2:26;
4, R Bardet (Fr, Team DSM) 2:35; 5, Yates 3:44; 6, N Quintana (Col, Arkéa Samsic) 3:58; 7, D Gaudu (Fr, Groupama-FDJ) 4:07; 8, Pidcock 7:39; 9, E Mas (Sp, Movistar) 9:32; 10, A Vlasov (Russ, BORA-hansgrohe) 10:06.
Points 1, W van Aert (Bel, Jumbo-Visma) 313; 2, Pogacar 159; 3, F Jakobsen (Neth, Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl) 155.
King of the mountains 1, S Geschke
(Ger, Cofidis) 43; 2, Meintjes 39; 3, Vingegaard 36.

-The Times