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Tom Pidcock dodges crash with wild TT wall ride

Ineos rider saves himself but can't save Volta ao Algarve lead

Tom Pidcock wall ride at Volta Algarve Photo by: Eurosport/Twitter

After starting Sunday’s final stage of the Volta ao Algarve in the leader’s jersey, ending the day seventh probably wasn’t what Tom Pidcock was hoping for. But it could have been much worse. Pidcock saved what could have been a rough crash with a wild will ride on his TT bike.

The Ineos rider came in a little too hot to a sharp lefthand turn and nearly lost control of his TT bike. Pidcock locks up the back wheel a few times as he tries to correct course and make the turn but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Clearly headed off-road, the Olympic mountain bike champion switches modes, from road to MTB, puts his left foot out and launches into a wall ride on the dirt embankment beside the road. Easy enough on a mountain bike, but this save is quite something on the skinny tires and sketchy handling of a TT bike. Then, with a little step-hop to get back over the curb and onto the road, Pidcock clips back in and rides away like nothing happened.

Pidcock’s wall ride saved his day and, with the Classics fast approaching, avoided a crash that could have derailed part of of his season. It didn’t, though, save his lead at the Volta ao Algarve. The Ineos rider finished 19th on Sunday’s fifth and final stage in Spain. That dropped him from first to seventh in GC. If there’s any consolation for the Brit, it’s that his Ineos teammates, Daniel Martinez and Filippo Ganna finished first and second overall in the five-day stage race.

Sunday wrapped up what was a dramatic edition of the Volta ao Algarve. Earlier in the week, Magnus Cort overtook an early-celebrating Ilan van Wilder at the last possible moment to win the second stage. Cort backed that victory up the following day with the opposite tactic. The Dane bolted away from a small group of favourites with a long sprint for the line to claim his second stage win in a row.