Pidcock gives a bewilderingly beautiful interview after Strade Bianche: "What's happening here? What the fuck"

Interviews with riders were held everywhere after the finish line of Strade Bianche, but nobody captured the story of the day in just over three and a half minutes as strikingly as Tom Pidcock. The British rider from INEOS Grenadiers finished fourth but was mainly still full of astonishment talking about Tadej Pogacar's massive solo attack. "What the fuck!"

Pidcock just missed the podium because he launched his efforts not too early, but too late. "I waited too long. If I had played it a bit better, I would have come second here. Everyone jumped, and I waited, but that turned out to be too late. I was in good shape, and when Tadej went, it made no sense to follow. There were still eighty kilometers to go, and that's how I raced. I wasn't in the red yet, while people around me were dropping like flies. It's a pity I waited too long," he said, speaking to IDLProCycling.com, among others.

Pidcock saw 'dead bodies' everywhere

The Slovenian's attack from UAE-Team Emirates was impressive on television, but Pidcock explains that it was even more impressive in the peloton. "It went full throttle towards Monte Sante Marie, and after Tadej attacked, it was like we were riding in the grupetto. I saw dead bodies everywhere. I'm lost for words; it was like old-school racing, really hardcore. When we had ridden 140 kilometers, everyone was already spent. If it had been the normal distance of 185 kilometers that would have been fine, but we still had 75 to go.'

The last year's winner noticed this because of the massive food intake en route. "It was non-stop eating. The first eighty kilometers were already full throttle, everyone was already eating as if it was the final. That's intense," said Pidcock, who was alert on Monte Sante Marie but never considered joining Pogacar. "No, even from Tadej Pogacar, I did not expect this. Everyone was looking at each other when it happened, people were a bit down. What's happening here? I don't know what to say, just what the fuck. If those last forty kilometers had been flat, you could still have raced. Now it was every man for himself, like some kind of iron man."