Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team had many options this week to have Tom Pidcock racing and they chose the Arctic Race of Norway, perhaps where the Briton had the best chances of taking a victory. He did so on stage 3, raising his arms (on the road) for the first time since February, and is seeking to win the overall classification on the final explosive stage of the race.
Pidcock had a stellar start to the season but many of his races included some big stars and he had to settle for minor places. After his move to the ProTeam, he immediately restarted his career in terms of wins on the road and won the AlUla Tour where ha also won two stages. Some weeks later he also took a victory at the Vuelta a Andalucia, and so he got the winning habit back. In Norway he started the queen stage as the main favourite but managed to follow up on that, launching an attack just outside the final kilometer which only Corbin Strong could follow. Although he spent the entirety of the finale ahead of the yellow jersey, in the final uphill sprint he still had the legs to beat him.
“Yes, I’m happy with my legs. We also wanted to try to take the jersey today, but Corbin really put in an incredible climb for a sprinter. There’s still a big race tomorrow, but it’s going to be tough,” he admitted in a post-race interivew. “He’s strong and clearly in great shape, so I can still be happy with the stage win. I was also looking for answers about my condition; I had a long training block and it’s been a while since I’ve raced on the road, so I’m feeling a bit fresher after a very busy first half of the season, which is nice”.
“It was important to have a solid team around me. Fred [Frison] did a huge job, 140 kilometers alone in the lead when no one wanted to help, and the team supported me really well on the last climb, so thanks to them”.
The final day of racing won’t have more difficult climbs than that of this Satuday’s, however it will have many more climbs and could be very tactical – which should also see other riders put Strong under pressure.
“Tomorrow in Tromso, we’ll give it our all, it will also depend on the conditions. It’s a circuit race with hills, and I like that. Corbin has a solid team and he’s clearly in good shape, so it won’t be easy, but we’ll see what we can do”.