For the second successive stage, Tom Pidcock suffered a mechanical at the Tour de France – this time crashing on a bend on the descent of stage 10’s third-from-last climb.
The Pinarello Q36.5 rider was nestled in the middle of the second group just after the race crested the Pas de Peyrol when he slid out on some chalked road and landed next to a parked car.
He held his left hand and grimaced as he got to his feet, but he appeared to be mostly unscathed and remounted his bike within seconds. He eventually chased back onto the group chasing Richard Carapaz who at the time was leading the stage before Tadej Pogačar counterattacked him and won.
Pidcock’s crash came just two days after a small stone lodged itself in his shifter during stage nine, preventing him from changing gear in the finale. He was one of four riders from the breakaway to contest the finish line sprint which was won by Mathieu van der Poel.
“My tyres lost grip on the tarmac and I fell on the floor,” Pidcock told Cycling Weekly at the end of stage 10, pointing to his bike’s rear wheel.
“People were saying some luck should be on my side now but maybe not yet [it is].”
Pidcock, a two-time Olympic mountain bike champion, used his descending skills to rejoin the front of the peloton. He finished 1:59 behind Pogačar and now sits 10th overall in the general classification.
Chasing stage victories from the breakaway remains his biggest goal during the second half of the race.
“It was pretty good, I think,” he reflected on the day. “I just missed that front group – we’ll disregard Pogačar shall we? – but I’m definitely getting a bit stronger.
“I couldn’t hold on with Isaac [del Toro] on the final climb but it was good. Racing on the front, fast all day, [and] I felt comfortable until the final. It’s a bit more enjoyable when you’re not the one suffering all day.”
