{"id":59380,"date":"2026-05-03T14:39:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T14:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/59380\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T14:39:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T14:39:23","slug":"i-told-everyone-before-the-race-you-dont-need-to-work-for-me-tom-pidcock-springs-a-surprise-at-eschborn-frankfurt-with-strong-2nd-to-end-the-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/59380\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI told everyone before the race: you don\u2019t need to work for me\u201d \u2013 Tom Pidcock springs a surprise at Eschborn-Frankfurt with strong 2nd to end the Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\u201cI told everyone before the race: this is going to be nothing, you don\u2019t need to work for me, and then I still finish second,\u201d Pidcock said in conversation with In de Leiderstrui.<\/a> \u201cThat surprised even me a bit, although in Li\u00e8ge I also couldn\u2019t really tell where I stood because of a puncture during the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a result that ran counter to his own expectations coming into the day, particularly given the context of his recent racing block and recovery from injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI finally felt like my old self again\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was my first time in Frankfurt, without really knowing where I stood. But still everyone looked to us and the guys did a really good job,\u201d he explained. \u201cOn the final climb I was quite far back, but I still came over the top near the front. I finally felt like my old self again after my crash.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sense of rediscovery appeared to be the key takeaway for Pidcock, who had been searching for confirmation of his level following his crash earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally this would have been a week of rest, but I changed things up a bit. I took some time to do a few other, more enjoyable things, but since I was in Germany anyway I decided to add this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding answers after a difficult spell<\/p>\n

Beyond the result itself, the ride in Frankfurt offered reassurance after a challenging period marked by uncertainty and limited training.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an event with UBS over the next few days and I\u2019ll do some riding there, but also some other enjoyable things. That\u2019s needed, because mentally that injury was a lot harder than the physical aspect,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re constantly thinking about how you feel when you\u2019re not allowed to ride for ten days. You want to get better, but you can\u2019t rush it. And at the same time you already have to sacrifice so much for your sport. Now it\u2019s time for a clear headspace, because there\u2019s still a big summer ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

No Giro as focus shifts to summer<\/p>\n

With the spring now complete and confidence restored, attention turns to what comes next. Asked whether he would line up at the Giro d\u2019Italia, Pidcock offered a short and decisive response. \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a turbulent period following his crash, second place in Frankfurt may not have been part of the plan, but it has provided clarity and momentum heading into the next phase of his season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI told everyone before the race: this is going to be nothing, you don\u2019t need to work…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[88,32976,32982,3638,3636,51],"class_list":{"0":"post-59380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-zurich","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-eschborn-frankfurt","10":"tag-georg-zimmermann","11":"tag-pinarello-q36-5-pro-cycling-team","12":"tag-tom-pidcock","13":"tag-zurich"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116511163364535053","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}