'I showed that I had the raw power' - Laurence Pithie confident of Classics boost after breakthrough season

While Laurence Pithie was undoubtedly a breakthrough star at the Classics last season, he knows that just a matter of kilometres and small mistakes prevented him from reaching the podium of several top one-day races. In 2025, after joining Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, he insisted he'll be "back with a vengeance".

At Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, it was 70km from the line where he dropped from the Wout van Aert-led quartet that eventually fought out the win. Gent-Wevelgem saw him get closer, with just one repetition of the Kemmelberg and 34km remaining when Mads Pedersen and Mathieu van der Poel left him behind. 

On the cusp of, at worst, netting fourth and third-place finishes, Pithie faded and can only look back on 43rd and 26th at the Belgian duo of races.

Without the results his performances perhaps warranted, Pithie finally had it all going right at Paris-Roubaix after he made it into the second group aiming at the podium behind Alpecin-Deceuninck's Van der Poel and looked strong alongside his Groupama-FDJ teammate Stefan Küng. But again, it wasn't to be, with a slip at 33km to go extinguishing any hope of a Monument top three.

Seventh on debut at Paris-Roubaix is hardly a result to be sniffed at - it's better than most Classics riders will ever achieve in their careers. However, for Pithie it was hard to take knowing that he had more to give. 

"You wouldn't even know I was up there, really. I was super disappointed at the time," Pithie told Cyclingnews and the Cycling Podcast at the Red Bull training camp in December. 

"For all the races at the start of the year, like Paris-Nice coming second and third, everyone on the team was stoked that I was wearing the yellow jersey, and I was just disappointed that I hadn't won the race.

"It was like that for a lot of the classics, I was always there in the decisive moves, at the right moment, and then on the results sheet I was 30th. But hindsight is a wonderful thing. At the time, it was a lot of disappointment, but I can look back on it now and take it as great learning and just come back with a vengeance for next year."

Being able to follow Van der Poel and Van Aert in the Classics is far from an easy task, however, which Pithie of course knows, and he will have the added barrier of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) re-entering the cobbled races in 2025. But after surprising even himself with his run of one-day form back in spring, he's hopeful for more next time out. 

"I definitely surprised myself a lot. I wasn't expecting that. Of course, you hope for the best, but a lot of things went my way as well," said Pithie. "I managed to keep good positioning throughout the races and stay out of the carnage with crashes and stuff, so I could always put my best foot forward, really."

With his quickly improving performances from Kuurne through to Roubaix, can Pithie make it into one of these finals and show off his powerful sprint? He's working on everything to make sure he can hold on when the time comes. 

"There's probably a numerous amount of things [to work on]. I think I showed that I had the raw power to be there when the going gets tough but I was just lacking it in the last 30k so just trying to be able to do those repeated efforts deep into a race," Pithie said. 

"I just want to work on my threshold and really work on my weaknesses so I can be there at the end of the races. think, with age, a little bit - like I'm still quite young and I've never done races of that level or that length before, so hopefully, with this year under my belt and a Grand Tour, next year, I can step up and be competing in those finals."

Pithie is due to ride E3 Saxo Classics, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix next season after beginning his 2025 campaign later this month at the Tour Down Under.

Why he 'couldn't say no' to joining Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe

The biggest change Pithie is making for next year is his team. After turning pro with Groupama-FDJ and racing there for two years, he's made a big move to one of cycling's 'super teams'.

With CEO Ralph Denk's project gaining a huge budget boost after the arrival of Red Bull as majority owner and title sponsor back in May, Pithie simply had to accept when they offered him a spot to be one of their Classics leaders back in the spring.

It's not just Pithie they've brought in to bolster their cobbled ambitions either, with Oier Lazkano, Jan Tratnik and the Van Dijke brothers Tim and Mick also making the move across from Movistar and Visma-Lease a Bike, respectively. 

"I think the main reason I came here was because I couldn't say no to the opportunity," said Pithie to Cyclingnews and The Cycling Podcast. 

"The project and vision that Ralph [Denk] and the team here approached me with, it was something I just couldn't say no to. It's a super professional environment here, and with Red Bull coming on, who doesn't want to be under that brand."

While he had nothing but praise for his former team Groupama-FDJ, who enabled him to make a successful cycling career in Europe by adding him to their development team back in 2021, there was one big change which he was excited about - the language barrier. 

"It was a big decision to leave Groupama. They gave me my shot, and they were the only team to give me the chance, really, when I first came to Europe, and they took a big risk on me," Pithie said.

"I can only look back on that with fond memories and thank them for their opportunities. But I think it was time for me to move on and come into an English-speaking environment as well. I think I can really get the best out of myself here and become the best rider I can be." 

Pithie assured it had no real effect on his results, but he did describe the language difference as "super hard", especially when it came to discussing tactics in race with staff.

"With the riders, it was okay, because most of them spoke English on the Classics team, but when it came to the sports directors, it was really hard, and there was a big cultural and language barrier," he explained. 

"The way I wanted to race and the way I like to race sort of opposed some of their views, and it's just hard to get your point across in a different language when I'm stuttering French words. It wasn't the easiest."

With a younger cohort of sports directors also, Pithie is confident of extracting his maximum potential at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, away from the traditional methods that have long been utilised by top French teams in cycling.

"I'd never say anything bad about Groupama, it was a great team and they gave me the opportunity. But for sure it's different to other teams," Pithie admitted. 

"I think already when you look at the sports directors here and some of the interactions I've had, I can really be more myself, and it's more like a friendly environment. You've got super young staff here who have retired from cycling quite recently."

Pithie highlighted Heinrich Haussler, his New Zealand compatriot Shane Archbold, and Bernie Eisel as team directors only recently out of their professional riding careers.

"On Groupama, most of the sports directors were older and were set in their ways a little bit. When I'm coming in with not much experience with all these, I wouldn't say new ideas, but trying to think outside the box a little bit, you can be pushed to the side sometimes."

Can Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe become a new force in the Classics with Pithie at the helm? It's been some time since the German team were a regular contender at cycling's fabled cobbled races with Peter Sagan, however, they'll be hoping the Kiwi, alongside the likes of Lazkano and Tratnik, can turn that around.

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