Pidcock eyes Worlds spot after Baby Giro win

Yorkshireman is first Brit to win major U23 race, reports Vern Pitt

- Vern Pitt

Tom Pidcock is set to take to the start of his first elite World Championship road race later this month following his dominant win of the biggest U23 stage race on the 2020 calendar in Italy last weekend.

Pidcock claimed three stages on his way to overall victory at the U23 Giro Ciclistico d’Italia, nicknamed the Baby Giro, including both major mountain stages – the final one of which included an ascent of the fearsome Passo del Mortirolo.

In doing so he became the first Brit to win the race, joining a list of former winners that includes Francesco Moser, Marco Pantani and, more recently, Pavel Sivakov.

“It’s one of my biggest wins for sure,” Pidcock said. “I won Alsace last year, and I think I would have won l’Avenir too, but it’s the first proper stage race I’ve won with big mountains. It’s not a world title but it is pretty special.”