Shifter Problems Cost Tom Pidcock Chance at Tour de France Stage Win

Tom Pidcock might not have beaten Mathieu van der Poel anyway, but a shifting problem ruined any chance of finding out if he could at the Tour de France.

The Pinarello-Q36.5 star was briefly gapped on the day’s final climb after his chain jammed and his shifting began to fail.

The culprit? A chunk of asphalt lodged inside his right-hand shifter that stopped him from changing gears from that position.

The shifter on the drops stopped working altogether, but he later discovered he could still change gears from the hoods.

“My shifter stopped working, and I couldn’t change gear. I realized I could only change on the top (hoods) but then in the sprint, I was focusing so much on the sprint I was on the drops,” Pidcock said.

“Then that bottom wasn’t working so started sprinting and I couldn’t change gear. Then I had to go on my hoods.”

The problems snowballed from there and may have cost Pidcock his first Tour stage victory since his unforgettable Alpe d’Huez triumph in 2022.

Mathieu van der Poel barreled to the win, with Pidcock trailing through with third.

Pidcock couldn’t hide his frustration at the line.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. My bike works perfectly the whole race and then the day the win was there, it doesn’t work,” he said.

“But anyway, Mathieu is a difficult one to beat in those situations in sprints like that. So it would have been difficult anyway but I’m happy for a good day racing. A nice way to go into the rest day.”

‘At least I was there for the win’

It was Pidcock’s best Tour stage result since finishing second in 2024, and another sign he’s rediscovering his best form after joining Pinarello-Q36.5 last season.

“I don’t know why that happened. We’ve had such reliability with SRAM, we’ve never had something like that happen,” said team boss Doug Ryder. “Tom, with his mountain bike ability, and he knows the details, so he could sort it out.”

Pidcock is still hanging around the top 10 with 13th overall at 9:40 back, but the real goal is to win another stage.

“I think I was going super well today, I had really good legs and I was feeling strong. If I compare to the last time I was at the Tour de France with the gravel stage [2024] I was second two years ago, today I was really in the game and in the breakaway. It shows that my level is higher.”

A stage win is the top priority, and he came close Sunday. He fought into the winning move in brutal conditions, but Van der Poel was also there.

Having mechanical problems doesn’t help.

The top shifter on the hoods still worked, but that was not ideal for the final sprint against classics legend Van der Poel.

“I had to go on the hoods. It was a shame,” Pidcock said. “I don’t think I could have come around him anyway.

“I was quite pleased that I could change gears and I was not in the peloton. At least I was there sprinting for the win.”