When a dangerous move pushed clear with around 50km to go at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Tom Pidcock looked to be ideally positioned in a race that he had entered “strong and fit” after a top five in 2023. There were, however, still a number of twists in the script to play out before the final curtain was drawn in Ninove.
A move by Matteo Jorgenson (Jumbo-Visma) on the Wolvenberg whittled down the numbers at the front of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad even further, resulting in a powerful group of six at the head of the race, including Pidcock, Jorgenson’s teammates Wout Van Aert and Christophe Laporte, Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) and Toms Skuijns (Lidl-Trek).
“You can’t be surprised at any thing nowadays,” said Pidcock. “But when the race split at the start, you kind of hope in your mind that that's it, right there is going to be 25 guys racing the final.
“But then you come to the finish and there are two guys away that you hadn't seen all day. It's mad how it can play out and you don't give up in these races.”
First the front split was caught and then on the Muur van Geraardsbergen Pidcock was dropped from what had been the lead group of six, with the peloton closing the reshuffling of the front of the race then began all over again, providing a messy lead in to the final ten kilometres.
Then at around 9km to go it was actually the race winning move when Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) delivered a break that held through to the end. Just behind, it was a sprint for the remaining podium spot from a group of around 30, taken by Wout van Aert while Pidcock was eighth.
“It was of course a hard day and the wind played a big part,” said Pidcock. “The race was open after 30-40km. We spent the day in the wind.
“I ran out of legs a little at the finish. I think I'm quite happy in the front and we did a good job as a team at the start of the race and got ourselves in the right position with four in front. We can build on that.”
It won’t be long before Pidcock has the opportunity to do just that, with an Italian block of road racing next up. That will start next Saturday with Strade Bianche – which he won in 2023 – and then quickly move onto Tirreno-Adriatico from March 4-10 and conclude with Milan-San Remo on March 16.
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Spring Classics- including reporting, breaking news and analysis from Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and more. Find out more.
