Tom Pidcock's GC Leap at Tour de France Leaves Rivals Unworried

Tom Pidcock's general classification (GC) leap at the Tour de France has left rival teams feeling unworried, despite the Pinarello rider's impressive 7:34 gain on his GC rivals after stage 13.

What happened?

On stage 13, Pidcock infiltrated the day's break and ended up gaining 7:34 on his GC rivals, moving him up to fourth place. He's now seven seconds ahead of Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), 20 seconds ahead of Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), 29 seconds ahead of Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and seven seconds behind Remco Evenepoel (also Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Why it matters for Tom Pidcock

However, sports directors at both Red Bull and Lidl-Trek remain confident that giving up so much time to Pidcock, who finished third at the Vuelta a España last year, would not hurt their chances overall. Red Bull's Patxi Villa told Daniel Benson, "Not really. I mean, the effort of today will come tomorrow... What he did today was a move, you have to measure a bit what you do now. I believe that was a super ride, but I think there will be a cost, a bill will come. Not tomorrow, then sometime."

What comes next?

The key, according to both Villa and Lidl-Trek's Steven de Jongh, is that both stages 14 and 15, plus the time trial on stage 16, will prove who the real podium contenders are. This weekend sees back-to-back mountain stages, with Saturday a battle in the Vosges, counting three category-one climbs, before the first *hors catégorie *summit finish of the race on Sunday, to the Plateau de Solaison. De Jongh agreed, "The next two days are super hard, then the rest day and the TT, and things will change. Tomorrow is super hard, it's a full GC day, like Sunday is. It's a very hard stage, we reconned it and it's very hard."

Rivals' Reactions

Despite Pidcock's impressive rise, his rivals might feel calm about their chances of overcoming the Pinarello rider in the rest of the race. However, experts warn that giving him this time may come with a cost. Pidcock's rivals might feel calm about their chances of overcoming the Pinarello rider in the rest of the race, but it does still seem like a mistake to give him this time that they will still have to fight to take back.

The Road Ahead

The Tour de France continues with back-to-back mountain stages, with Saturday a battle in the Vosges, counting three category-one climbs, before the first *hors catégorie *summit finish of the race on Sunday, to the Plateau de Solaison. The stage will be a big fight, one of the biggest of the Tour probably. We are facing here one of the key moments of Tour. Tomorrow will give a pretty clear idea.

And it's not just the mountain stages that will be crucial for Pidcock's rivals. The time trial on stage 16 will also be a key test for the Pinarello rider, as he looks to solidify his position in the general classification.