It probably took Czech cyclist Ruda Šturm by surprise when the dreaded 'Uh oh!' email from Strava landed in his inbox on Monday afternoon, especially when he logged in and saw the offending KOM-nabber was in fact...Tom Pidcock?
'What's an Andorra-based, British professional cyclist doing taking my backroad KOM five miles from the German border?' He probably asked himself. 'Doesn't he have better things to be doing? He's only the 124th person to ride it...'
Well, it seems the Ineos Grenadiers all-rounder has added cycle commuting to his infinite list of two-wheeled disciplines, riding 118 miles (190km) from one UCI Mountain Bike World Cup round to the next, crossing from Germany to Czech Republic on the way...
Clearly the 22-year-old was not content with Sunday's winning return to life on knobbly tyres, which saw the Olympic mountain bike champion win by 20 seconds from Nino Schurter and Vlad Dascălu. Well, to be fair, he did only ride 16 miles (25km)...easy, right?
Anyway, the truth of the matter is probably that Pidcock, like the rest of us, chose to 'cycle commute' because it simply made sense to do so. In the same way that we'd rather spin to the office for half an hour rather than catch a packed train, Pidcock probably thought: I've got a ride to do, why would I needlessly sit in the back of a car all day?
It does seem he hitched a lift for part of the way. Sunday's race was near Albstadt, around 217 miles west of his Monday start point, but we'll cut him some slack for not racking up 335 miles (539km) the day after a race...next time, Tom.
Once he hit the road, and back on his Pinarello Dogma F, the possible soon-to-be Tour de France debutant was not hanging about...averaging 20.3mph (32.7km/h) and collecting Strava top-tens (and a KOM) along the way, even despite riding into a headwind all day.
After a little under six hours in the saddle, and a fair few more miles than we'd have managed in that time, Pidcock stopped his Garmin just west of the small market town of Cerhovice, whose resident KOM-hunters must have been glad to see the pro mercifully call a halt to proceedings prior to smashing all their segments...
Check out Pidcock's full activity over on Strava...
Unless you're subtly appreciating OurFormerNige's ability to consistently yank people's chains even after becoming notorious ... I disagree. Just...
The front wheel typically plays no part in acceleration, so disc brakes are going to put the spokes under more stress than normal riding. This is...
Haven't you said that before...?
I haven't watched that video with the sound on, but does it have the Benny Hill music playing over the top of it...?
I wonder if its worth looking up whether Driveway is a one man band or not. If not, might be worth having another go at contacting them. ...
Wellgo M142 are very light (236g / pair) and compact. I have a set on my commuter that are 10 years old and still spin beautifully. There's even a...
Me too, even carbon rim brakes seem simplicity itself - and stop well enough for me. Going is my problem, not stopping
Yes; next question?
Not sorta thing I'd consider because i like to ride outside...but you could just stick a shit front wheel on?
Looks bang on