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An abridged second stage of the AlUla Tour noticed Tom Pidcock rating his first victory for brand spanking new workforce Q36.5, the British rider triumphing with a stinging 500-metre solo transfer on the uphill end at Bir Jaydah Mountain.
Pidcock, who moved to the Swiss squad from Ineos Grenadiers over the winter, beat Rainer Kepplinger (Bahrain Victorious) and Alan Hatherly (Jayco-AlUla) to the road on the finish of the mountainous 158km, which had earlier seen a full closing lap eliminated and the race neutralised resulting from points with the street floor.
As a results of his win, the sixth of his skilled street profession, Pidcock now takes over the chief’s jersey from stage 1 winner Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep).
He took 4 seconds over Kepplinger and 7 over Hatherly on the line and now leads the previous by eight seconds with Hatherly third general at 13 seconds.
“Today was tremendous essential for me. It’s a brand new workforce, all these nice folks, and I simply needed to do them proud right now. The workforce rode brilliantly, they’d full dedication for me, and I used to be extremely motivated for right now,” Pidcock mentioned after his victory.
“I knew I used to be in fine condition. This yr I’m on SRAM and the ability meter is completely different. When you really look objectively, I’m in a extremely, actually good place, however in fact after a winter when you have not competed in opposition to anybody and you have executed lots of efforts by yourself, you really do not know. So, it is good to get a little bit of assurance.
“The first time I assumed I’d take a look at the waters somewhat bit. Today we mentioned we might simply attempt to win the stage. I felt the wind somewhat bit so I assumed I used to be simply going to attend a bit longer. We bought to 500 to go and the street was taking place to the left. On the right-hand aspect, the street was a bit larger, so I assumed I’d go to the best after which use the flatter part to assault.
“Before coming right here, we mentioned that right now is the day to win the race. It’s simpler to defend than to take time on stage 4, so hopefully there is a little bit of a buffer. This race is gained on seconds actually, so in fact it is nonetheless all to play for however we’re in a robust place.”
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