Tom Pidcock returns earlier than expected with Liège as his goal

Tom Pidcock has a date to return to competition. After his fall in the Volta a Catalunya, which threatened to take him out of the calendar for several weeks, the British rider has just announced that he will bring forward his return and will be at the start of the Tour of the Alps this same week, a decision that reopens his plan for the Ardennes and, in particular, for Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Tom Pidcock accelerates his return and reappears in the Tour of the Alps with Liège on the horizon

The rider himself has confirmed his presence with a direct message on social media that reflects both optimism and caution. “The recovery has gone super well, so I’m going to race the Tour of the Alps next week as preparation for Liège. The Ardennes were the big goal for this part of the season, so I’m happy to be able to compete in at least one of them, whatever my condition”.

Pidcock has not competed since the end of March, when he suffered a dramatic crash off the road in the Volta a Catalunya. That incident, during a fast descent, caused damage to his knee and wrist that initially pointed to a prolonged absence.

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But the context has changed in just a few weeks. The recovery has been faster than expected and the rehabilitation work has allowed him to return to training sooner than anticipated. Even so, his team avoided setting a return date until just a few days ago, maintaining uncertainty about his immediate calendar.

The alpine race (April 20-24) does not appear as a goal in itself, but rather as a test in real competition conditions. Five demanding stages, with explosive profiles and elevation gain, will serve to measure how well he can handle the race pace and, above all, how his injured knee responds.

In any case, his return introduces a new element into the outcome of the week. Not so much for what he might do in the Alps, but for the possibility of arriving in time for one of the Monuments that marked his spring.