The last time Tom Pidcock rode up the Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France, it was one of the performances of his career. The then 22-year-old flew up the famed climb to take his first – and to date only – Tour stage win, and to mark his name on the world of cycling.
That was in 2022. Four years on, the now Pinarello Q36.5 rider, aged 26, is older and wiser, but also now the owner of an opposite experience on the Alpe. Instead of tasting victory once more, Pidcock finished 20th on stage 19 of the 2026 Tour , 8:22 behind the stage winner and yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
"That second last climb I went so deep, I think I paid for that on the last climb. I was dead there," he said at the finish.
"Of course [there are positives to take from the stage] Yeah, what a day. I hoped for more. But there was nothing more I had in my legs there. It is was it is."
There might have been positives, but stage 19 was a bad day for Pidcock; not only was he not able to recreate his heroics from four years ago, he also slipped down on the general classification, being leapfrogged by Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). What looked like a comfortable eighth place is now an edgy ninth, with Pidcock leading Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) by under two minutes. It should be enough, but with a chaotic penultimate stage to come, anything might happen.
His comments post stage 18 on Thursday were prescient, warning of Carapaz: "When Carapaz is up the road, I have too much respect for this guy to give him free time. You don't give him free time."
The EF rider is chasing the mountains classification, but has also found himself in the top 10 on GC; he is just 15 seconds ahead of Pidcock, so it will all come down to stage 20, also to Alpe d'Huez.
Despite the disappointment, Pidcock could still find time to enjoy his second time racing up the Alpe at the Tour: "It's incredible you know, the amount of people who come here and watch bike racing. It's amazing. The atmosphere. Thank you to everyone who comes out and makes it so magical."
