'Things like this shouldn't happen' - Pidcock reveals teammates hit by police motorbike at Tre Valli Varesine

Tom Pidcock was caught out by the timing of Jarno Widar’s sharp sprint on Via Sacco, but that wasn’t the only surprise he endured en route to second place at Tre Valli Varesine.

The Briton wore his defeat with good humour, praising Widar’s turn of speed – “Now I know for the future,” he grinned – but he was less enamoured of the safety out on the course in Varese.

Speaking in the mixed zone after the podium ceremony, Pidcock revealed that his Pinarello-Q36.5 teammates Marcel Camprubì and Thomas Gloag had been struck by a police motorbike that was riding in the opposite direction with six laps of the finishing circuit remaining. The incident was not captured by live television footage.

“A police motorbike was going the wrong way down the course and crashed into two of our guys,” Pidcock said. “First of all, I wanted to stop racing myself, I was mad. I had guys riding in front of me, for me, and two of them were on the floor…

“Luckily, Marcel was ok, he could continue. Tom was also ok in the end, but he stopped the race, he has some stitches in his knee. Things like this shouldn’t happen.” 

Pidcock quickly returned to the fray, with his Pinarello-Q36.5 squad continuing to maintain a presence at the head of the peloton alongside UAE Team Emirates-XRG. In the finale, Pidcock was live to the danger when world champion Brandon McNulty accelerated with 16km to go, and he triggered the winning move shortly afterwards, bringing Widar and Matteo Jorgenson with him.

Jorgenson’s initial reticence to commit to the move led to exasperated remonstrations from Pidcock, but the trio struck up enough of a working alliance to carry a 30-second lead into the final 2km. 

That advantage meant they had to time to eye one another warily on the drag up Via Sacco towards the finish line, and it was the 20-year-old Widar who prevailed in the standoff. The Belgian’s smart effort carried him several lengths clear and Pidcock ran out of road before he could close the gap.

“I don’t know how much of a jump he got on us, but when he went, I went immediately and he already had a gap,” Pidcock said. “It was a very impressive sprint from him, so chapeau to him.”

Like at Giro dell’Emilia on Saturday, Pidcock endured the frustration of second place, but he is aware that every placing counts as part of Pinarello’s push for eventual WorldTour promotion in 2029. With that in mind, Pidcock is expected to line up at the Tour of Guangxi later this month, but he has another pressing appointment in Italy before he travels to China.

On Saturday, Pidcock will line up among the contenders for a Tadej Pogačar-less edition of Il Lombardia that will offer something of a rematch of the favourites for the recent Montreal Worlds. 

“Winning is always the goal, but podium places are also not bad,” Pidcock said when he took a seat in the post-race press conference in Varese’s Camera del Commercio. “I’m happy with my shape at the end of the season, because there’s aways weird feelings, so I can go into the weekend with confidence. I think it’s going to be quite an open race. Let’s see.”