Tom Pidcock: I used to race for myself, now I want a grand tour for team
On his way to a remarkable overall victory, Simon Yates covered the arduous 18.4km climb — ferocious even by the standards of a grand tour, its average gradient an unceasing 9.2 per cent — in a record time of 59min 23sec. Pidcock finished the stage nearly 18 minutes behind his compatriot, his ascent of the Finestre seven minutes slower than Yates. And even then, he broke new ground.
'What Yates did was pretty phenomenal,' Pidcock, 25, says. 'The speed they went at the last climb was incredible. I did my best-ever hour in terms of power and was seven minutes behind.'
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