{"id":552498,"date":"2026-03-22T04:00:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T04:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/552498\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T04:00:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T04:00:38","slug":"when-you-come-so-close-it-hurts-pidcock-cant-hide-disappointment-after-missing-first-monument-by-a-half-wheel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/552498\/","title":{"rendered":"‘When you come so close, it hurts’ Pidcock can’t hide disappointment after missing first Monument by a half wheel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Pidcock rarely holds back, in racing or in interviews. So it was not surprising when his disappointment at losing the 298-km Milan-San Remo by about 315mm<\/a>. Even if that loss was against Tadej Poga\u010dar. The Brit let loose with his understandable frustration at missing out on what could have been his first Monument win, and dished on what he think\u2019s the Slovenian\u2019s future at MSR might be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you come so close, it hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

After surviving the Poggio on Poga\u010dar\u2019s wheel, Pidcock looked perfectly positioned to deny the world champion one of the few wins that has eluded him. The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider had forced\u00a0Poga\u010dar to lead out the sprint and, with a rapidly closing chase group forcing the lead duo to keep their pace moving, looked like he had set up a perfect scenario to take the win.<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t to be. Poga\u010dar out kicked Pidcock to win by half a wheel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m mainly disappointed right now,\u201d Pidcock admitted in the post-race interviews. \u201cYes, I lost to the best cyclist of all time. But I can\u2019t help be disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2025, Pidcock crashed before the Cipressa, ending his Milan-San Remo in a less spectacular but also frustrating way. \u201cThe disappointment is different from last year. I feel great and I was in the mix this year, but yes, I was so close to a victory in a Monument.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was Tadej alone and I was behind alone, it would be different. But. Iwas told it was just four centemeters. That hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>Photo: Sirotti
\n\u201cHis way of attacking \u2026 suits me well\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the raw, post-finish line emotions, the Brit did allow some recognition of what he\u2019d accomplished.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I should look at it from a distance. What I \u00a0actually did is amazing. I\u2019m quite proud,\u201d Pidcock allowed, adding a hint at how he tamed the Slovenian\u2019s notorious efforts. \u201cOn the Poggio, it was getting closer to Tadej dropping me. The way he was riding, where he attacks for half a minute at a time and then rests, suits me well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could that be a hint at how future showdowns between Pidcock and Poga\u010dar could play out differently?<\/p>\n

Possibly, but the Brit already seemed more focused on what might happen in 365 days, not the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>Tom Pidcock on the 2026 Milan-San Remo podium. Photo: Sirotti
\n\u201cTadej said he isn\u2019t coming back to this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite keeping up with Poga\u010dar on the Poggio, something even Mathieu van der Poel failed to do this year, Pidcock says the Slovenian\u2019s pace was astounding.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the Poggio, it felt like there was a motorbike riding in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the Brit dropped some spicy gossip.<\/p>\n

\u201cTadej just said he\u2019s not going to come back now, now that he\u2019s won,\u201d Pidcock said, adding with a laugh, \u201cSo what motor bike am I going to sit behind?\u201d<\/p>\n

If true, it wouldn\u2019t be unreasonable. Poga\u010dar was denied victory five times at Milan-San Remo before finally claiming his win on Saturday. Still, we\u2019d all like to see the world champion return to Italy. His presence has made the Monument one of the most thrilling races of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Pidcock rarely holds back, in racing or in interviews. So it was not surprising when his disappointment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[214358,49,48,635,166274,82,1422,43201],"class_list":["post-552498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-2026-milan-san-remo-donne","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-milan-san-remo","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-tom-pidcock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}