Tom Pidcock warns rivals after thrusting himself into fight for podium at Tour de France - 'Getting stronger and stronger'

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Tom Pidcock is relishing the prospect of being in contention for a podium finish at the Tour de France after a stunning Stage 13 performance. The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider came home third, making up 7'30" on the peloton to move up from 10th to fourth in the general classification standings.

Pidcock warns he is 'getting stronger and stronger' at Tour de France

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At one point during the stage, Pidcock was even up to second in the virtual GC standings, ahead of Visma-Lease a Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard.

He now sits just nine seconds behind Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Remco Evenepoel in third and is right in the hunt for another Grand Tour podium, following his third-place finish at last year’s La Vuelta.

”I’m getting stronger and stronger in this race,” Pidcock said. ”Also at La Vuelta [in 2025] I was getting dropped in the first week and ended up on the podium.”

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Working against Pidcock is the time trial that is coming on Stage 16, where he expects to ”lose a lot of time” to Evenepoel in particular.

But he is in the mix and TNT Sports cycling expert Matt Stephens is backing him to ”rise to the occasion” of battling some of the sport’s biggest names for a podium.

Highlights: Schmid outsprints Tejada to take Stage 13 as Pidcock makes huge GC gains

Video credit: TNT Sports

”We were doing the Breakaway show at the Vuelta [last year], and every day we heard he's setting new power numbers,” Stephens said.

”The motivation of having the podium in sight at a Grand Tour has fundamentally changed Tom's thinking.

”He's now within sight of a podium, albeit it’s still quite distant in the Tour de France. That ride today, I think, has turned this race for Tom, and I think he's a rider that needs stimulation.

"And what's more stimulating than Fred [Wright] and the rest of your team burying themselves for you to give you a chance for a stage win, and in the process being part of a big breakaway that has given the GC a completely different face.

”What we hope for from Tom is focus, and I think today will show us what he's got. It really will.

”This is a great opportunity for Tom to try something and test himself, and if it fails, it doesn't matter. He's now got a platform, and he's a rider I think can rise to the occasion.

”I think we're going to see more. We're going to find [out] new things about Tom over the next couple of weeks, and he'll find new things out about himself. That's exciting.”

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