Milano-Torino was a late addition to Tom Pidcock’s schedule and the Pinarello-Q36.5 rider made the most of the opportunity with a victory atop the steep Superga finish.
From the summit there are panoramic views of Turin and the Piedmont region but for Pidcock the obvious view was three days forward and 130 kilometres to the south where Milan-San Remo awaits as his next target. In four appearances at the Monument, Pidcock had his best finish in 2024 with 11th.
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Last year’s race was a disappointment for the British rider, as a crash at the base of the Cipressa took him away from any chance to cover moves by big favourites Mathieu van der Poel or Tadej Pogačar, which is what followed on that climb with 30km to go. While Pogačar jumped first on that climb, Van der Poel kicked fastest from a three-rider break to win a second time at La Classicissima.
Like last year, the form is excellent for Pidcock. He did not race the AlUla Tour this year, where he won the overall to start 2025. This season he opened his road campaign in Spain with podiums at Vuelta a Murcia and Clásica Jaén and then a stage win and third overall at Vuelta a Andalucia. He had a strong top 10 at Strade Bianche and a week later decided to make a debut at Milano-Torino for his Milan-San Remo tuneup.
The opening 150km were flat and led to a pair of ascents of the Superga, the first ascent marked by a 12-rider group in the lead. The second and final ascent saw Movistar launch Cian Uijtdebroeks with a move, with Pidcock responding along with Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe duo Primož Roglič and Giulio Pellizzari, Alexander Cepeda (EF Education-EasyPost), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) and Sebastian Berwick (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).
They continued past the steepest section at 14% gradient as a stretched-out group and entered the final 1.2km before Roglič went first. But Cepeda, Uijtdebroeks, Pellizzari, Fortunato and Pidcock remained in touch, and it would be Pidcock that delivered a decisive blow with 500 metres to go.
“He attacked, and he attacked quite hard,” Pidcock said of Roglič’s move with just over a kilometre to race. “I knew it was a long way to go. I didn’t really want to go in the red, so I kind of went a bit and then with like 500 metres from the top, I was like, ‘I should probably close him’. So I closed the gap.
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