"I couldn't fix it with that kick": Pidcock's monumental anger with his drivetrain

Tom Pidcock finished third in stage 9 of the Tour de France after being one of the main protagonists of the day, but crossed the finish line with the feeling of having contested the sprint for victory in Ussel hampered by a mechanical problem. His transmission stopped responding in the last kilometers and the Brit had to improvise to keep shifting gears.

Pidcock ran out of gears at the decisive moment of stage 9

Pidcock explained what happened after finishing the stage, after television images had already shown that something was not working correctly on his bike. The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider even kicked the rear derailleur area while riding in the leading group, although he later clarified that the maneuver did not solve the problem.

 

 

 

 

 

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Pidcock was unable to shift gears

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The failure occurred at the worst possible moment. Pidcock had managed to enter the breakaway and later became part of the final selection along with Mathieu van der Poel, Tobias Halland Johannessen, and Alex Baudin.

Van der Poel definitely hardened the race with an attack on Mont Bessou, about 25 kilometers from the finish. Pidcock and Johannessen managed to follow the Dutchman before the summit, and Baudin ended up joining the group to form the quartet that would contest the victory.

It was during that final part of the stage when problems began for Pidcock.

“On the climb, my gears stopped working and I couldn't shift. Then I saw that I could shift from the lever,” the Brit explained after crossing the finish line. It is unclear whether he was referring to a failure of the gear lever that only worked when fully pressed, or if Pidcock had some kind of SRAM blip button installed for more shifting options.

The bike allowed him to shift again using another button, but the problem returned at the decisive moment. When the sprint began, Pidcock instinctively placed his hands on the lower part of the handlebars and found himself unable to shift again.

“In the sprint, I was so focused that I went to the lower part of the handlebars and couldn't shift. Then I had to move my hands back onto the levers.” That movement forced Pidcock to adjust his position in the middle of the acceleration while Mathieu van der Poel launched the sprint that would ultimately give him the stage victory.

“My bike works perfectly all race and today, when victory was at stake, it doesn't work.” Pidcock's frustration was particularly clear in his first statements after finishing the stage.

“I don't know what happened. My bike works perfectly all race and today, when victory was at stake, it doesn't work. The button doesn't work, only the one on top, so I don't know.”

Pidcock also clarified that the kicks he was seen giving to the bike during the race did not help to fix the breakdown. “I didn't fix it with the kick, that did nothing. It's just the buttons.”

The Pinarello-Q36.5 uses SRAM Red AXS electronic transmissions, and Pidcock himself acknowledged that until now his bike had always worked correctly. The exact causes that led to the failure during stage 9 have not been confirmed.

Pidcock admits he probably wouldn't have beaten Van der Poel either

With a bit more time to analyze what happened, Pidcock calmed his anger and expressed satisfaction with the feelings he had during the day.

“Today I was doing very well, I had very good legs and felt strong. If I compare it to the last time I was in a breakaway in the Tour de France, in the gravel stage of 2024, today I was really in the fight.”

Despite the mechanical problem, Pidcock also acknowledged that surpassing Mathieu van der Poel would have been extremely difficult.

“It's a shame, but I tried to have Mathieu lead the last kilometer. Obviously, he was the fastest in our group and I needed to start early if the peloton was coming, but they weren't close enough. In the end, it was a short sprint and I don't think I could have beaten him anyway.”

Mathieu van der Poel ended up winning in Ussel ahead of Tobias Halland Johannessen and Tom Pidcock. The third place represents the best result for Pinarello-Q36.5 in their debut at the Tour de France and allowed the Brit to move up two positions in the general classification, where he occupies 13th place, 9:40 behind Tadej Pogačar before the first rest day.